Alex Poythress

Alex Poythress
Alex Poythress
Born	September 6, 1993 (age 33); Savannah, Georgia, U.S.
Occupation	Professional basketball player
Years active	2012–present
Known for	Basketball player for Zenit Saint Petersburg

Alex Poythress (born September 6, 1993) is a professional basketball player who holds American birth and Ivorian naturalization, currently competing for Zenit Saint Petersburg in the VTB United League. During his high school tenure at Northeast High School in Clarksville, Tennessee, he was honored as Tennessee's Gatorade Player of the Year (2011–12) and received the TSSAA Class AAA Mr. Basketball title in his senior season. Rated as a 5-star prospect, Poythress played collegiate basketball at the University of Kentucky, concluding his career with 966 points, 597 rebounds, and 77 blocks—placing him among an elite group of just twelve players in the program’s history to surpass 900 points, 500 rebounds, and 70 blocks.

High school career

Ranked prominently within the 2012 recruiting class, Poythress was positioned as number 17 by ESPNU, number 10 by Scout.com, and number 8 by Rivals.com. He ultimately chose to commit to Kentucky, turning down scholarship offers from Florida, Tennessee, Memphis, and Vanderbilt.

College career

On December 12, 2014, Poythress suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during practice, which ruled him out for the remainder of the 2014–15 season. He made a comeback for his senior year, where he averaged 10.2 points alongside 6.0 rebounds per game. By the 2020–21 season, he was distinguished as one of only five athletes to have completed four scholarship seasons under coach John Calipari at Kentucky.

Fort Wayne Mad Ants (2016–2017)

After not being selected in the 2016 NBA draft, Poythress participated with the Orlando Magic during the 2016 NBA Summer League. He signed with the Indiana Pacers on August 29, 2016, but was released on October 17 following two preseason appearances. Subsequently, on October 31, 2016, he joined the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA Development League as an affiliate player linked to the Pacers.

Philadelphia 76ers (2017)

Poythress inked a contract with the Philadelphia 76ers on April 2, 2017, through an NBA hardship exemption that allowed roster expansion to address injury-related shortages. He made his debut that evening, contributing 11 points in 24 minutes off the bench during a defeat against the Toronto Raptors. On April 11, he secured a contract extension for the remainder of that season.

Indiana Pacers (2017–2018)

On August 22, 2017, Poythress agreed to a two-way contract with the Indiana Pacers, dividing his playing time between the Pacers and their G-League affiliate, Fort Wayne Mad Ants. His contract was upgraded to a standard NBA roster spot on December 28, 2017, after participating in eleven games. The Pacers waived him on July 6, 2018.

Atlanta Hawks (2018–2019)

Poythress signed a two-way contract with the Atlanta Hawks on August 20, 2018. During his stint with Atlanta, he appeared in twenty-one games—including one start—averaging 5.1 points and 3.6 rebounds per contest. Additionally, in eighteen appearances for the G-League's Erie BayHawks, he posted averages of 23.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists, along with defensive stats of 1.1 steals and 1.2 blocks per game.

On August 12, 2019, Poythress signed with the Jilin Northeast Tigers competing in the CBA.

Galatasaray (2019–2020)

He became a member of Galatasaray in the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL) on December 2, 2019, where he posted averages of 12.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest.

Zenit Saint Petersburg (2020–2022)

On July 7, 2020, Poythress inked a deal with Zenit Saint Petersburg, participating in both the VTB United League and EuroLeague. He extended his contract with Zenit on June 16, 2021.

Maccabi Tel Aviv (2022–2023)

Poythress signed with Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League and EuroLeague on June 21, 2022. Throughout 16 EuroLeague appearances, he averaged 7.8 points and 3.6 rebounds while playing approximately 22 minutes per game.

Olimpia Milano (2023–2024)

On July 28, 2023, he agreed to a one-year contract with Olimpia Milano, competing in Italy's Lega Basket Serie A (LBA).

Zenit Saint Petersburg (2024–)

Returning to Zenit Saint Petersburg on June 26, 2024, he rejoined the Russian VTB United League (VTB) team to strengthen their roster for the forthcoming season.

International career

In 2022, Poythress secured an Ivorian passport enabling him to represent the Ivory Coast national team and qualify as a non-import player under the Cotonou Agreement, thereby improving his international appeal.

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 6 || 1 || 26.2 || .463 || .316 || .800 || 4.8 || .8 || .5 || .3 || 10.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Indiana | 25 || 0 || 4.2 || .423 || .364 || – || .7 || .1 || .1 || .0 || 1.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta | 21 || 1 || 14.5 || .494 || .391 || .621 || 3.6 || .8 || .2 || .5 || 5.1 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 52 || 2 || 10.9 || .472 || .358 || .667 || 2.3 || .5 || .2 || .3 || 3.8

EuroLeague

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2020–21 | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"| Zenit | 32 || 7 || 18.8 || .595 || .000 || .711 || 4.3 || .5 || .6 || .7 || 8.6 || 8.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2021–22 | 23 || 5 || 20.2 || .628 || .000 || .766 || 4.2 || .9|| .7|| .6||7.7||9.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2022–23 | style="text-align:left;"| Maccabi Tel Aviv |16||13||22.3||.545||.200||.587||3.6||.8||.5||.6||7.8||7.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2023–24 | style="text-align:left;"| Olimpia Milano |30||9||12.8||.598||.200||.793||2.7||.1||.3||.4||5.3||4.7 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career |101||34||17.9||.595||.125||.707||3.7||.5||.5||.5||7.3||7.6

EuroCup

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2019–20 | style="text-align:left;"| Galatasaray |7||6||27.9||.473||.333||.840||7.1||1.6||.3||.9||13.6||14.3 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career |7||6||27.9||.473||.333||.840||7.1||1.6||.3||.9||13.6||14.3

Domestic leagues

Year	Team	League
2016–17	Fort Wayne Mad Ants	D-League	46	31.1	.528	.403	.783	7.1	1.5	.7	1.4	18.5
2017–18	Fort Wayne Mad Ants	G League	7	34.1	.482	.227	.675	8.9	2.7	.9	1.4	20.0
2018–19	Erie BayHawks	G League	18	34.8	.516	.296	.698	9.7	2.9	1.2	1.3	23.7
2019–20	Galatasaray	TBSL	13	26.8	.508	.174	.629	5.9	1.0	.7	.5	12.3
2020–21	Zenit	VTB United League	18	18.7	.670	.000	.696	4.1	.7	1.0	.7	9.2
2021–22 VTB United League	BC Zenit Saint Petersburg	VTB United League	21	25.7	.724	.000	.726	5.7	1.8	1.0	.7	12.1
2022–23 Israeli Basketball Premier League	Maccabi Tel Aviv	Israeli Basketball Premier League	14	20.4	.708	.000	.657	5.2	1.4	.6	.6	10.6
2023–24 LBA season	Olimpia Milano	Lega Basket Serie A	18	15.3	.534	.000	.673	3.3	.3	.6	.3	7.3

College

Season	Team	Games Played	Games Started	Minutes Per Game	Field Goal Percentage	Three-Point Percentage	Free Throw Percentage	Rebounds Per Game	Assists Per Game	Steals Per Game	Blocks Per Game	Points Per Game
2012–13	Kentucky	33	31	25.8	.581	.424	.689	6.0	0.7	.3	.4	11.2
2013–14	Kentucky	40	0	18.4	.497	.242	.625	4.5	.4	.3	.7	5.9
2014–15	Kentucky	8	8	20.3	.381	.000	.857	3.8	.3	.5	1.5	5.5
2015–16	Kentucky	31	23	23.6	.601	.304	.706	6.0	.3	0.6	.7	10.2
Career Totals		112 !62 !22.1 ! .551 ! .302 ! .686 !5.3 !0.5 !0..4 !0..7 !8..6

External links

Profile at Kentucky Wildcats