Alex Poythress returns to St. Petersburg!
Alex Poythress was born on September 6, 1993, in Savannah, Georgia, USA. During his high school years, he attracted the attention of scouts who gave him the highest ratings in their reports. In the 2011/12 season, Alex was named "Tennessee State Player of the Year." In college, Poythress represented the University of Kentucky from 2012 to 2016. In his senior year, the center averaged 10 points and 6 rebounds in the NCAA.
Alex was not selected in the 2016 NBA Draft, after which he spent several years trying to break into the main league through the G League. He eventually made it, but couldn't secure a spot, so in the summer of 2019, Alex moved to Europe and signed a contract with Galatasaray — right after a short stint in China with Jilin Northeast Tigers.
After a season in Turkey, in the summer of 2020, the big man joined Zenit for the first time under the guidance of Xavi Pascual. During his two years in St. Petersburg, Alex helped the blue-whites advance to the Euroleague playoffs for the first time in Club’s history (2020/21), win bronze in the VTB United League (2020/21), and silver in the Supercup (2021). He also helped the team win the Kondrashin and Belov Cup (2021) and become champions of the VTB United League and Russian champions for the first time (2021/22).
After Zenit, Poythress continued to play for Euroleague clubs. First, he spent one season with Maccabi Tel Aviv, with whom he became the Champion of Israel and won the National Cup, and then spent a year in Italy with Olimpia Milano, where he won the Serie A Championship.
In the previous Italian championship season, the center played 18 games, averaging 7.3 points and 3.3 rebounds, and in the Euroleague he participated in 30 games, scoring 5.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 0.4 blocks per game.
Zenit Basketball Club congratulates Alex on his return to St. Petersburg and wishes him new victories with the blue-whites!
