Its a Philly Christmas for the Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics formally announced the signings of Keyon Dooling, Jason Collins, Jamar Smith, and Philadelphia’s own Dionte Christmas on Tuesday. Christmas and Smith have partial guarantees on minimum-contract deals in hopes of earning a roster spot at training camp.

Christmas, a 6’5” guard, appeared in 26 games during the 2011-12 season for AGO Rethymno Aegean in Greece and averaged 18.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game. He shot 36.0% from three point territory and 46.3% from the field overall. Christmas played for the Celtics during their 2012 Summer League teams in Orlando and Las Vegas.

Christmas attended Samuel Fels High School in Philadelphia. In his junior year (2002–03), he averaged 17.7 points per game and was named honorable mention All-Public. He followed this by leading the City of Philadelphia in scoring, averaging 26.5 points per game and gained first team All-Public honors, as well as being named third team all-City.

After completing his education at Samuel Fels, Christmas prepped for a year at Philadelphia’s Lutheran Christian Academy. He averaged 18 points per game on a team that went 35-3 and ultimately placed nine players on Division I basketball rosters.

Christmas went on to Temple University, finishing his career with 2,043 points, becoming only the fourth player in school history to eclipse the 2000-point mark. During his senior season, he set school records for most three-pointers in a season (107) and career (317). He ranks in Temple’s all-time top ten in three-pointers attempted and three-point field goal percentage. He is also the first player to lead the Atlantic 10 in scoring for three consecutive seasons. He was an Honorable Mention All-American at Temple during his senior year (2008-09) and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.