Yves Pons

Yves Pons (born 7 May 1999) is a French college basketball player for the Tennessee Volunteers of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

Yves Pons
Pons in January 2020
No. 35 – Tennessee Volunteers
PositionShooting guard / Small forward
LeagueSoutheastern Conference
Personal information
Born (1999-05-07) 7 May 1999
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
NationalityFrench
Listed height1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
Listed weight97.5 kg (215 lb)
Career information
High schoolINSEP (Paris, France)
CollegeTennessee (2017–present)
Career highlights and awards
  • SEC Defensive Player of the Year (2020)
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  France
FIBA U16 European Championship
2014 LatviaTeam

Early life and career

Pons was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and did not know his biological parents. When he was four years old, he was adopted by a French couple, Babeth and Jean-Claude Pons, and immediately moved to France with them.[1] Pons attended French sports institute INSEP, in Paris, and played for its affiliated club Centre Fédéral de Basket-ball in the Nationale Masculine 1 (NM1), the amateur third-tier division of French basketball.[2]

Pons decided to play college basketball in the United States for Tennessee under head coach Rick Barnes, after being recruited by assistant coach Michael Schwartz. He chose the Volunteers over offers from Florida and Texas Tech.[3] He became the first four-star recruit to play for Barnes at Tennessee and the first French men's basketball player in school history.[4]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Yves Pons
SF		 Paris, France INSEP (France) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Feb 28, 2017 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:   247Sports:
Overall recruiting rankings:   247Sports: 63
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved 24 November 2019.

    College career
    Pons in January 2019

    Pons suffered an ankle injury in his Tennessee debut, a win over Presbyterian, and was limited to four minutes.[5] In his freshman season, he played 24 games off the bench and averaged 5.2 minutes per game. As a sophomore, Pons scored a season-high 10 points against Eastern Kentucky in his first career start. He was featured on SportsCenter's top 10 plays for a two-handed block during the game.[6] In February 2019, Pons suffered a facial fracture in a collision in practice and underwent a corrective procedure.[7] Pons averaged 2.2 points per game as a sophomore, but put in a lot of work on his game after the season.[8] He saw considerable improvement as a junior, scoring a career-high 15 points in his season debut versus UNC Asheville and eclipsing that mark in his next game after scoring 19 versus Murray State.[9] At the conclusion of the regular season, Pons was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year.[10] As a junior, Pons averaged 10.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game.[11] Following the season, he declared for the 2020 NBA draft.[12] On August 3, Pons announced he was returning to Tennessee for his senior season.[13]

    National team career

    Pons won a gold medal with France at the 2014 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship in Latvia, after averaging 3.8 points per game.[14] He averaged 10.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game at the 2016 FIBA Under-17 World Championship in Zaragoza, Spain, as his team finished in sixth place.[15] In 2019, Pons joined France at the FIBA U20 European Championship in Tel Aviv, Israel, where he averaged 2.6 points per game for the fourth-place team.[16]

    Career statistics
    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

    College
    Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
    2017–18 Tennessee 2405.2.500.667.500.6.2.1.1.7
    2018–19 Tennessee 351311.7.516.280.4001.8.5.3.42.2
    2019–20 Tennessee 313133.9.489.349.6385.41.1.42.410.8
    Career 904417.6.494.342.5932.7.6.31.04.8

    References
    1. Hein, David (17 January 2017). "Spectacular Pons loud on the court, reserved off the hardwood". heinnews. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
    2. Hein, David (22 March 2017). "How reliable is Yves Pons? French ace injured again". heinnews. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
    3. Ramey, Grant (13 April 2017). "The story behind Tennessee landing Yves Pons". 247Sports. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
    4. Calhoun, Caleb (28 February 2017). "Tennessee Basketball Recruiting: Four-Star Forward from France Yves Pons Commits to Vols". All For Tennessee. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
    5. Megargee, Steve (10 November 2017). "Vols capitalize on 28-0 run to trounce Presbyterian 88-53". USA Today. Associated Press. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
    6. Provost-Heron, Troy (28 November 2018). "Yves Pons kickstarts Vols in win over Eastern Kentucky". The Daily Times. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
    7. Kaplan, Phil (13 February 2019). "UT Vols' Yves Pons wears mask, plays briefly, after suffering facial injury". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
    8. Ramey, Grant (November 18, 2019). "Is this the new normal for Yves Pons?". 247 Sports. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
    9. Henley, Gene (19 November 2019). "Vols forward Yves Pons has made tremendous progress since last season". Chattanooga Times Free Press. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
    10. "SEC announces 2020 Men's Basketball Awards" (Press release). Southeastern Conference. March 10, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
    11. Tsoukalas, Tony. "How to watch: Alabama basketball vs Tennessee in the SEC Tournament". Rivals.com. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
    12. Martin, Brandon (April 25, 2020). "Report: Yves Pons Declares for NBA Draft". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
    13. Wilson, Mike (August 3, 2020). "Yves Pons returning to Tennessee basketball for senior season". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
    14. "Barnes Announces Signing of Yves Pons". University of Tennessee Athletics. 12 April 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
    15. Sparks, Adam (18 October 2017). "Myth of Yves Pons grows before Vols debut". The Tennessean. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
    16. Ramey, Grant (16 June 2019). "Yves Pons spending summer playing for France U20 national team". 247Sports. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
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