Varese basketball, official arrival of long player Tariq Owens

Important new addition to the club’s roster

In a lengthy official statement, Varese Basketball has made official the agreement, for next season, with long-serving Tariq Owens.

“Pallacanestro Varese is happy to announce that it has reached an agreement with Tariq Owens, a class ’95 American center who will wear the Openjobmetis jersey next season. Owens is a long man who makes athleticism his strong point: on offense he skillfully exploits his centimeters (206) to pick up assists from his teammates, but it is on defense that he is at his best, often managing to stop and intimidate opponents with his presence. Owens is in his first experience in Europe after a career spent in the US between the NBA (brief stint with the Phoenix Suns jersey) and the G-League. Michael Arcieri, General Manager Pallacanestro Varese: “Today is a very happy day for our team and our society. Tariq is a young man with a strong personality equipped with a great work ethic and an immense passion for winning. His athleticism and ability to be impactful on both ends of the court make him an ideal player for the style of basketball we want to play. We welcome him to our family and look forward to having him in Varese with his teammates and the entire staff to start working towards next season.”

Tariq Owens was born on June 30, 1995, in Utica, New York. He approached basketball as a child and after high school he landed at the University of Tennessee; here he spent only one year because he then transferred to St. John’s University team where he found more space and where he began to showcase all his qualities that led him, in the 2018-2019 season, to Texas Tech University. With the Red Raiders jersey he plays 38 games (8.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game) and reaches the NCAA final in 2019, then lost to Virginia. After finishing collegiate, he is not selected in the draft but still enters the orbit of the Phoenix Suns, who offer him an Exhibit 10 and place him on the roster of the G-League affiliate team, the Northern Arizona Suns, where he averages 10.4 points, 7 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.4 steals in 40 games played. Positive numbers that convinced the Arizona franchise to offer him a two-way contract thanks to which he makes his NBA debut where he plays 3 games in February 2020. The following season he remains in the G-League playing for the Long Island Nets (8.6 points, 3 rebounds and 1.4 stoppages per shoelace),” the club’s full release.