Basketball player Yvon Joseph, Haitian NBA pioneer, was born 69 years ago

Yvon Joseph was born in Cap-Haïtien 69 years ago, on October 31, 1957. A center, he was the first Haitian-born player to compete in NCAA Division I in the United States, before playing a game in the NBA.

Discovered in Miami

A former volleyball player, Yvon Joseph had never played club basketball when a Miami Dade College coach spotted him in 1980 and offered him a scholarship. In his second season, he helped the team go undefeated in the regular season and reach the NJCAA tournament final, which they lost in overtime to Midland College and Spud Webb.

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

From 1982 to 1985, he played at Georgia Tech under Bobby Cremins. Alongside Mark Price and John Salley, he led the Yellow Jackets to their first Atlantic Coast Conference title and to the regional final of the 1985 NCAA tournament. He scored 758 points and grabbed 446 rebounds there.

One NBA Game

Picked by the New Jersey Nets in the second round of the 1985 draft, he played just one NBA game, on October 26, 1985, against the Indiana Pacers, scoring two points in five minutes. He then moved into business, supplying water purification systems to developing countries.