Donovan Mitchell

Donovan Vernell Mitchell Jr., son of Nicole and Donovan Mitchell Sr., was born in Greenwich, Connecticut in 1996. Mitchell started on the path to basketball stardom at Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. As a junior, he averaged 11.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists to lead Brewster Academy to a 33-2 record, the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council AAA Championship and the National Prep Championship. Mitchell was even better as a senior, averaging 14.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.8 steals to push Brewster Academy to a 34-1 record and its second straight National Prep Championship in 2015. Mitchell's play at Brewster led to his being named the 17th best high school player in the nation by Scout.com. Mitchell chose to play collegiate basketball at the University of Louisville, where he spent two years. Mitchell has been active in and around the Salt Lake City community since matriculating to the NBA. Throughout the season, he often leads school visits and basketball camps for area teenagers. In August 2018, the Mitchell family surprised students at Kearns High School to hand-deliver 300 backpacks to exemplary students in need. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram (@Spidadmitchell). Mitchell was one of college basketball's most improved players between the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, as he earned First-Team All-ACC honors on both offense and defense his sophomore year. His scoring more than doubled to 15.6 PPG that season, though there were no significant drop-offs in his shooting percentage with the added volume. His best offensive game came Jan. 24 in a 106-51 rout of Pittsburgh, when Mitchell posted 29 points on 9-for-13 shooting. He also averaged 2.1 steals per contest to lead the ACC and finish No. 16 in the country. In the NCAA Tournament, Mitchell posted averages of 14.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists, but he and the Cardinals fell as a No. 2 seed to Michigan in the Round of 32. Mitchell elected to go pro after that season and was taken in the first round by the Nuggets (13th overall), and later traded to the Jazz.