Experience and leadership at the service of Derthona: Semaj Christon is black and white
Two high-level years at College, the experiences in Pesaro and in the NBA, the inclusion in the second EuroCup quintet and now the choice to return to Italy: Semaj Rakim Christon, a point guard born in '92, is a new player for Bertram Derthona, with whom he signed a contract two-year contract until June 2024.
CAREER – Born in Cincinnati (Ohio) on November 1, 1992, Christon took his first steps at Winton Woods High School in Cincinnati, before transferring to Xavier College. In his first season, he led the team in points, assists and steals, being named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year. In 2013/14 Semaj further elevated his performance, scoring over 17 points per game. He then ends his university experience by declaring himself eligible for the NBA Draft.
The point guard was selected by the Miami Heat with the fifty-fifth call in the 2014 draft, before being traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He starts the season with the Oklahoma City Blue shirt, in the D-League, with which he ended the year averaging 18.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5.7 assists.
In 2015/16 Christon moved to Italy, to VL Pesaro, with which he produced 14.3 points per game, leading the team to safety. He then returned to Oklahoma City where he made his NBA debut on October 26, 2016.
In 2017/18 he played with the Guangzhou Long Lions in China and subsequently, from July to September, with the Santeros de Aguada in Puerto Rico. In September 2018 he returned to Europe, to Israel, with Hapoel Be'er Sheva, with whom he reached the Cup final, losing to Maccabi Rishon LeZion.
He began 2019/20 in France, with Limoges CSP, before moving to Baskonia in January 2020. With the Spanish team he played in both the Liga ACB and the EuroLeague, and was part of the roster of the team that won the title following the victory in the final against Barcelona.
After finishing his experience at Baskonia, Christon chose Tofas Bursa as the next stage of his career, where he averaged over 12 points per game. His performances earned him a call from ratiopharm Ulm, Germany, where he established himself as one of the leaders of the team. He ends 2021/22 averaging over 15 points between the championship and the EuroCup, of which he is one of the best players. In fact, he earned his place in the second quintet of the season thanks to over 17 points scored in the 18 matches played.
Christon wore the national team jersey in two matches in the 2019 World Cup qualifying window. Now he arrives at Bertram Derthona to start a new chapter in his career.
The words of Marco Picchi, President of Bertram Derthona: “I want to thank Peppe Sindoni for the professionalism and assistance he provided us in this difficult and very important negotiation. We are very happy that a player of Christon's caliber has chosen our project and Tortona, joining us with a two-year contract despite the many requests he has had from a team competing in European cups. This means that ours is a project seen through the eyes of very important players and agents: we are happy to have Semaj at coach Ramondino's disposal".
Thus coach Marco Ramondino: “For us it is very important to be able to include a player with proven leadership and experience. When building the team, one of our objectives is certainly to increase the physical-athletic potential of the roster without losing the technical-tactical identity. We also want to respect our main strong point from last season: the predisposition to team play. We are therefore happy and confident to have taken this first step in the right direction".
