Norvel Pelle

Norvel Pelle Jr. was born in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda, to Norvel Sr. and Darlene Pelle. His family moved to Saint Croix in the United States Virgin Islands when Pelle was three years old. Four years later, they moved to the United States. Pelle attended Lakewood High School in Lakewood, California, as a freshman, then transferred to Manuel Dominguez High School in Compton, California, for his sophomore year. He moved again prior to his junior year, transferring to Frederick K. C. Price High School in Los Angeles. He continued at the school as a senior, ranking among the top high school centers in his class. Pelle holds citizenship with Antigua and Barbuda, Lebanon and the United States. He has represented Lebanon in international play, debuting at the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup where he averaged 9.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 blocks per game. Learn more about Pelle by following him on Twitter (@NorvelPelle05) and on Instagram (@_np5). Pelle was a five-star recruit coming out of high school. He had enrolled at both St. John's and Iona, but he ultimately elected to go the prep school route. Pelle played at Los Angeles College Preparatory Academy before entering the 2013 NBA Draft. A foot issue forced him to ultimately withdraw his name, but he later caught on with the Delaware 87ers of the NBA Developmental League. He played the next season in the Taiwanese Super Basketball League before returning briefly to Delaware, but he left shortly afterwards in favor of an opportunity in the Lebanese Basketball League. Then, from 2016 to 2018, Pelle played with multiple teams in the top Italian league. He returned to the Delaware Blue Coats for 2018-19, but he was waived and returned to Lebanon for the remainder of the 2018-19 season. Pelle got another shot in the NBA when he signed with the 76ers the following summer on a two-way deal, which was converted to a standard contract the following February.