Joe Calvin Devance Jr. (born February 19, 1982) is a Filipino-American professional basketball player for the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel of the Philippine Basketball Association. He won 12 championships over the course of his career with the Alaska Aces, the Magnolia franchise, and the Barangay Ginebra.

Joe Devance
Devance with the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in 2015
No. 38 – Barangay Ginebra San Miguel
PositionPower forward
LeaguePBA
Personal information
Born (1982-02-19) February 19, 1982 (age 42)
Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
NationalityFilipino / American
Listed height6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight225 lb (102 kg)
Career information
High schoolBurges (El Paso, Texas)
CollegeUTEP (2001–2004)
PBA draft2007: 1st round, 1st overall
Selected by the Welcoat Dragons
Playing career2007–2022, 2024–present
Number53, 38
Coaching career2019–present
Career history
As player:
2007–2008Welcoat Dragons
2008–2011Alaska Aces
2011–2015Star Hotshots
2015–2022, 2024–presentBarangay Ginebra San Miguel
As coach:
2019Philippines (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's basketball
Assistant coach for  Philippines
Southeast Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2019 Philippines Team

Professional career

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Welcoat Dragons (2007–2008)

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The forward Devance attended the University of Texas, El Paso between 2001 and 2004. He entered the PBA in 2007 as the first overall pick by then-expansion team Welcoat.[1] Though he had minutes, Devance was not really able to showcase his talent, playing center under coach Caloy Garcia. He wore number 53 with the Dragons.

Alaska Aces (2008–2011)

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After playing one season with the Welcoat Dragons, he was then traded to the Alaska Aces for Sol Mercado. He is a feared outside scorer and a serious threat in the low post, a testament to his offensive capabilities.[2]

He is touted as the next most important player and the cornerstone of the Aces’ frontline until the unthinkable happened — Devance and the Aces had to part ways only after three seasons after Devance was shipped to the Air21 Express in exchange for the talented but underachieving forward Jay-R Reyes.[3]

On his years as an Ace, he was able to reach three finals appearances during the 2008–09 and 2009–10 seasons though he only had a championship during the 2010 Fiesta Conference.

After playing three seasons in the Alaska Aces, Alaska was forced to let go of Devance after the talented Fil-Am forward begged off. Sources said Devance wanted out of Alaska, hoping to get better compensation somewhere else even though Alaska already offered Devance the maximum pay of P350,000 per month. Despite this, Alaska had no choice, so they traded him to Air21 Express for their big man Jay-R Reyes.[4]

B-Meg / San Mig Coffee / Purefoods Star / Star (2011–2015)

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After a week, Devance was quickly traded to the B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados in exchange for Niño Canaleta and Jondan Salvador.[5] Devance was never able to play a game for the Express.

Devance was included in the List of Candidates for the 2010–11 PBA Most Valuable Player Candidates List and led the Statistical Points Average with 31.89 points.[6] In the end of the 2010–11 season, Devance was included in the 2nd Mythical Team along with his teammate James Yap, Jay Washington, Jayson Castro, and Ali Peek.[7] Devance was a key piece in San Mig Coffee's Grand Slam season in the 2013–14 season, averaging 9.4 points per game and 4.3 rebounds per game. Devance signed a 2-year extension deal with the Purefoods Star Hotshots in August 2014.[8]

Barangay Ginebra (2015–2022, 2024–present)

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On September 28, 2015, Devance was traded to the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in a series of trades that involved four teams namely: Barangay Ginebra, Star, Barako Bull Energy, and GlobalPort Batang Pier.[9] He again reunited with his former coach at Alaska and Star, Tim Cone.[9]

On June 1, 2022, before the start of the 2022–23 PBA season, Devance announced on Instagram that he will retire from the PBA, Then later he announce that he will join in the coaching staff of the Gin Kings.[10]

In time for the playoffs of 2024 PBA Governors' Cup, Devance was re-activated by Barangay Ginebra after coming out of retirement.[11]

PBA career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

As of the end of 2021 season[12][13]

Season-by-season averages

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Year Team GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2007–08 Welcoat 34 29.2 .408 .291 .608 6.5 1.1 .5 .8 13.6
2008–09 Alaska 47 30.2 .460 .350 .660 6.3 1.6 .5 .7 13.5
2009–10 Alaska 62 31.0 .454 .299 .695 6.1 2.2 .5 .7 12.6
2010–11 Alaska 42 35.7 .445 .363 .656 8.4 3.5 .5 1.1 16.5
B-Meg Derby Ace
2011–12 B-Meg 38 25.5 .428 .241 .720 4.8 2.1 .4 .4 9.1
2012–13 San Mig Coffee 60 30.2 .452 .327 .642 5.3 2.6 .5 .8 9.9
2013–14 San Mig Super Coffee 67 30.8 .442 .263 .685 4.3 2.3 .7 .5 9.4
2014–15 Purefoods / Star 45 30.9 .451 .323 .670 5.1 2.6 .6 .4 10.4
2015–16 Barangay Ginebra 48 20.8 .415 .229 .682 3.4 1.9 .2 .2 6.6
2016–17 Barangay Ginebra 60 28.4 .493 .355 .654 5.1 3.1 .6 .4 11.4
2017–18 Barangay Ginebra 37 28.6 .475 .350 .750 3.8 3.4 .8 .3 10.1
2019 Barangay Ginebra 32 20.4 .339 .272 .667 3.2 2.1 .6 .1 4.6
2020 Barangay Ginebra 20 13.6 .444 .133 1.000 2.9 1.4 .4 .1 4.2
2021 Barangay Ginebra 18 13.4 .304 .083 .615 1.5 1.1 .3 .1 2.4
Career 610 27.9 .445 .304 .672 5.0 2.3 .5 .5 10.3

References

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  1. ^ Welcoat – Devance's Player Profile, web.archive.org. Archived June 16, 2008.
  2. ^ Joe Devances High School Stats, espn.go.com. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
  3. ^ Prior to the trade, Devance was thinking to retire as an Ace, gmanews.tv. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
  4. ^ Bigger deal forced Devance to seek trade?, philstar.com. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
  5. ^ "PBA commissioner Salud approves Devance trade to Derby Ace Llamados". GMA News Online.
  6. ^ 2011 PBA Annual Awards Candidates, purefoodsbasketball.com. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
  7. ^ Congratulations to Devance, Pingris and Yap, purefoodsbasketball.com. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
  8. ^ "San Mig Coffee's Joe Devance to sign two-year extension before settling in US for good | InterAksyon.com | Sports5". Archived from the original on October 22, 2014. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  9. ^ a b "PBA: Joe Devance to reunite with coach Tim Cone at Ginebra". CNN Philippines. September 28, 2015. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  10. ^ Morales, Luisa (June 1, 2022). "Ginebra's Joe Devance retires from PBA". Philstar.com. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  11. ^ Terrado, Reuben (September 24, 2024). "Joe Devance comes out of retirement to play for Ginebra in QFs". Spin.ph. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
  12. ^ [1] PBA-Online.net
  13. ^ [2] Real GM