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Zach Lofton

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Zach Lofton
No. 23 – Al Riyadi
PositionShooting guard
LeagueBasketball Champions League Asia
Personal information
Born (1992-11-18) November 18, 1992 (age 31)
Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
High schoolColumbia Heights
(Columbia Heights, Minnesota)
College
NBA draft2018: undrafted
Playing career2018–present
Career history
2018–2019Detroit Pistons
2018–2019→Grand Rapids Drive
2019Grand Rapids Drive
2020Rostock Seawolves
2021–2022Kazma
2022–2023Dynamo Lebanon
2023Liaoning Arctic Wolves
2023Al Ahly Benghazi
2023–2024Meralco Bolts
2024Homenetmen Beirut
2024–presentAl Riyadi Club Beirut
Career highlights and awards
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at Basketball-Reference.com

Zachary Lofton[1] (born November 18, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for Al Riyadi Club Beirut of the Basketball Champions League Asia. He played college basketball for New Mexico State University (NMSU).[2] He transferred to NMSU from Texas Southern, where he was named the Southwestern Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 2017.[3]

College career

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Lofton, a shooting guard from Saint Paul, Minnesota, started his college career at San Jacinto College, then played his sophomore season for Illinois State University. He averaged 11.3 points per game for the Redbirds before transferring to Minnesota in 2014. While sitting out his transfer year, Lofton was dismissed from the Golden Gophers team before playing a game.[4][5] Lofton landed at Texas Southern, where in 2016–17 he averaged 16.8 points per game and led the Tigers to the 2017 NCAA tournament. At the close of the season, he was named SWAC Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year.[6]

Following his lone season with Texas Southern, Lofton declared for the 2017 NBA draft. Although he ultimately withdrew, he did announce that he would transfer from Texas Southern.[7] He ultimately chose New Mexico State to play his final season of college eligibility.[8]

As a senior at New Mexico State, Lofton averaged 20.1 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. He shot 46 percent from the field and 38 percent from behind the arc. Lofton was named to the All-Western Athletic Conference First Team and the 2018 All-WAC Newcomer team. Following the season he participated in the 2018 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.[9] He was eventually selected to play as the team's replacement import in place of the injured Suleiman Braimoh for the rest of the 2023–24 PBA Commissioner's Cup.[10]

Professional career

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Lofton was not selected in the 2018 NBA draft.[11] He signed with the Detroit Pistons for the NBA Summer League.[12] He averaged 10.8 points and 2.5 rebounds per game and scored 21 points in the final Summer League game against the Los Angeles Lakers. Lofton subsequently signed with the Pistons[13] and, in October, agreed to a two-way contract, splitting playing time with the Pistons and their NBA G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Drive.[14] On October 17, 2018, Lofton made his NBA debut with the Pistons. He recorded one steal in four minutes of play in a 103–100 win over the Brooklyn Nets.[15] In his G League debut, Lofton had a double-double with 26 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists and four steals as the Drive lost to the Erie BayHawks 125–114.[16]

On January 15, 2019, Lofton was waived by the Pistons, but retained by the Drive.[17] He averaged 13.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.2 steals per game with the Drive. On February 1, 2020, Lofton signed with the Rostock Seawolves of the German ProA league.[18] He averaged 27.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. On July 18, 2021, Lofton signed with Kazma of the Kuwaiti Division I Basketball League. He also played for Dynamo Club in the Lebanese basketball league.[19]

In November 2023, Lofton made his debut for Al Ahly Benghazi in the Road to BAL. On November 1, 2023, Lofton scored a team-high 25 points in his debut for Al Ahly, in a 86–77 win over FAP.[20] The following day, Lofton scored 32 points in a 73–84 win over Virunga, which sealed the group's first place for Al Ahly.[21]

After his stint with Al Ahly Benghazi, he signed with the Meralco Bolts of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) as one of the team's import for its participation in the 2023–24 East Asia Super League.[22]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

NBA

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Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2018–19 Detroit 1 0 3.8 .000 .000 – .0 .0 1.0 .0 .0

References

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  1. ^ "Zachary Lofton - Player Profile". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  2. ^ Geoff Grammer (December 9, 2017). "Lofton finds home at NMSU". Albuquerque Journal. p. D2. Retrieved March 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  3. ^ C.J. Moore (February 15, 2018). "CBB's Ultimate Journeyman Zach Lofton Finally Finds His Home". Bleacher Report. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
  4. ^ Axson, Scooby (October 30, 2014). "Minnesota dismisses transfer guard Zach Lofton". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  5. ^ Rayno, Amelia (October 30, 2014). "Transfer Zach Lofton kicked off Gophers basketball team". Star Tribune. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  6. ^ "2016-17 All-SWAC Men's Basketball Teams announced". Southwestern Athletic Conference. March 6, 2017. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  7. ^ Payne, Terrence (May 1, 2017). "Texas Southern's Zach Lofton to transfer". NBCSports.com. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  8. ^ Rudi, Mark (July 3, 2017). "Texas Southern grad transfer Zach Lofton signs with NMSU". Las Cruces Sun-News. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  9. ^ Rudi, Mark (April 9, 2018). "New Mexico State's Zach Lofton invited to play in Portsmouth Invitational". Las Cruces Sun News. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  10. ^ "Meralco taps EASL import Zach Lofton in place of injured Braimoh". Spin.ph. December 7, 2023. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
  11. ^ Vince Ellis (October 18, 2018). "Zach Attack". Detroit Free Press. pp. C1, C6. Retrieved March 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  12. ^ "Zach Lofton to play for Detroit Pistons Summer League team". Las Cruces Sun-News. June 24, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  13. ^ Rudi, Mark (August 11, 2018). "Former New Mexico State Aggie Zach Lofton signs with Detroit Pistons". Las Cruces Sun-News. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  14. ^ "Pistons exercise 2-way conversion option on Zach Lofton". ESPN. Associated Press. October 15, 2018. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  15. ^ https://www.nba.com/games/20181017/BKNDET#/boxscore [dead link]
  16. ^ "Bayhawks stop Drive". NBA.com. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
  17. ^ "Zach Lofton: Let go by Pistons". CBSSports.com. January 15, 2019. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  18. ^ "SEAWOLVES verpflichten Ex-NBA-Profi Zach Lofton". Rostock Seawolves (in German). February 1, 2020. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  19. ^ Madwar, Ahmad (July 18, 2021). "Kazma sign a second import player, ex Rostock". Eurobasket. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
  20. ^ "Lofton, Diabate lead Al Ahly Benghazi to victory against FAP". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
  21. ^ "Al Ahly Benghazi survive BC Virunga scare to book Semi-Final spot". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
  22. ^ "Meralco signs Zach Lofton as second import in EASL". Spin.ph. November 26, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
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