Keye van der Vuurst de Vries (born 29 December 2001) is a Dutch basketball player for Joventut Badalona of the Spanish Liga ACB. He is the youngest player to ever play in the Netherlands national basketball team, as he made his debut at age 16.[1][2]
| Joventut Badalona | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Point guard | ||||||||||||||
| League | Liga ACB | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | 29 December 2001 Rijswijk, Netherlands | ||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Dutch | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 191 cm (6 ft 3 in) | ||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 85 kg (187 lb) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 2018–present | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| 2018–2023 | Oostende | ||||||||||||||
| 2023–2024 | Zunder Palencia | ||||||||||||||
| 2024–present | Joventut | ||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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Medals
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With Oostende, he is a five-time Belgian League champion and one time Finals MVP (in 2022).
Early life and career
Throughout his childhood, Van der Vuurst de Vries played with the amateur team Lokomotief, in his hometown Rijswijk. In 2017, he signed with Belgian club BC Oostende, where he played for the youth teams as well for Duva Fruit.[3]
Professional career
Van der Vuurst de Vries made his debut with BC Oostende in the 2018–19 Pro Basketball League season. For the following 2019–20 season, he was given a permanent spot on Oostende's roster.[4] He won three consecutive Pro Basketball League championships with Oostende. On 27 May 2022, he won his fourth consecutive Belgian championship and was named the Finals MVP after averaging 9 points and 7.8 assists in the series against Kangoeroes.[5]
On April 26, 2022, he declared for the 2022 NBA draft.[6]
On May 27, 2024, he signed with Joventut Badalona of the Spanish Liga ACB.[7]
National team career
Junior teams
In 2018, Van der Vuurst de Vries won the 2018 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship Division B while playing with the Dutch under-18 team.[8] He scored a game-high 35 points in the final, in which Slovenia was defeated easily by 86–57.[9]
Senior team
On 16 November 2018, van der Vuurst was selected by head coach Toon van Helfteren to be a part of the Netherlands senior team.[10] On 29 November 2018, Van der Vuurst de Vries made his debut for the Netherlands at age 16, making him the youngest player ever to play for the Dutch team.[2] He surpassed the record set in 1961 by Ger Kok.[11] In his debut game, the Netherlands played Poland, and lost 78–105.
Personal
Keye is the younger brother of Boyd, who plays professional basketball for Okapi Aalst.[12]
Honours
Club
- Oostende
- 5× Pro Basketball League / BNXT Belgian Champions: 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23
- Belgian Cup: 2020–21
- Belgian Basketball Supercup: 2018
- 2× BNXT Supercup: 2021, 2022
Individual
- BNXT Belgian Finals MVP: 2022