NORFOLK, Va. - As a smaller basketball player from a small town, Michael "Moe" Deloach always played with a chip on his shoulder.

His trademark "dirty, gritty" game was crafted on the playground courts of Rocky Mount, North Carolina. It helped him become one of the NCAA's top scorers at Norfolk State and carve out a 10-year professional career in Europe.

Now 34, Deloach made the decision earlier this year to retire and move on to the next chapter of his life.

"I'm adapting to being home and (living) life without basketball. I haven't had to do this in years," said Deloach from his home in Rocky Mount. "It's very rare to have a 10-year pro career with no injuries, but I managed to do that. It was just more the wear and tear it takes on you. Plus, I felt a calling to come home and work for my community."

Rocky Mount has never been far from Deloach's heart or mind. He was a high school star at Northern Nash High, the rare Division I talent to come out of Rocky Mount. After a year at prep school, Deloach enrolled at NSU in the fall of 2005, but redshirted his first year.

His career began slowly as coaches struggled to find a role for the diminutive dynamo. Was he a point guard? At 6-feet tall and generously listed as 170 pounds, his size seemed to indicate so. But he had an uncanny knack for scoring, explosive quickness and leaping ability that enabled him to score at will in the lane and around the basket among taller players.

By his sophomore season, new head coach Anthony Evans and assistant coach Robert Jones (now the Spartans head coach) realized not to pigeon-hole Deloach into a single position. Simply put, he was a scorer and playmaker all rolled into one. His scoring jumped from 3.4 points in his freshman season to 12.8 as a sophomore. He then authored two straight All-MEAC first-team seasons as a junior and senior, ranking among the country's top 20 in scoring both years. He averaged 21.5 points as a junior and 21.7 as a senior, when he ranked 11^th nationally in scoring.

Not just a scorer, though, Deloach also led the Spartans in steals three times and was either first or second in assists each of his last three seasons.

Despite his college production and immense athleticism, the NBA didn't look his way.

"If I had focused more on being a point guard, I may had had more of a chance (in the NBA)," Deloach said. "But even though I was just 6-0 or 6-1, my game still translated well overseas."

Indeed, Deloach averaged in double figures every year of his pro career, which began in Poland and also included stops in the Czech Republic, Italy and Romania. He was MVP of his league in Czech Republic in 2012-13 and averaged at least 15 points per game in all of his five seasons in Italy.

The highs and lows of playing overseas were about what an outsider would expect.

"My first year in Poland was challenging, learning the European game and not having a lot of great technology like we have now," Deloach said. "It was a lot of Skype calls. My last few years, it was a lot easier to keep in touch with people once we had FaceTime."

Deloach noted his time in Rome as a highlight. Especially the food.

"I can't even eat Italian food in the states now. It's just not the same," Deloach said with a laugh.

Even though he never got his shot with an NBA team, Deloach looks back on his pro career with satisfaction and pride.

"I was always either first or second-team all-league and feel like my teams were usually successful," Deloach said. "I can always go back to those countries and they show me love. I learned a lot and made life-long friends outside the U.S."

Now, Deloach turns to the next chapter in his life. For the time being, that means co-managing a restaurant, Moe & D's Restaurant, Grill and Bar, with his father and uncle in Rocky Mount. He also runs his own foundation, the Moetivation Foundation, which focuses on helping youth get equal opportunities through education and sports.

His long-term goal is to get into coaching, perhaps even opening his own basketball training facility.

"I always try to give back to my community. Whether it's a basketball camp, toy drives, book bag giveaways … I try and do as much as possible," Deloach said. "It's about giving the youth what they need to get to that next level in life. Being that I'm well-known here, a lot of people respect and look up to me, so I try to do my part in giving back and giving knowledge to the kids."

Deloach still keeps in regular contact with Jones and some of his old NSU teammates, like current women's basketball coach and former Spartan player Larry Vickers. Deloach credits NSU with being a key part of his development.

"As I look back, just seeing how I started and where I finished, it's great to see all the hard work with coach Jones paid off," Deloach said. "From being a 3 points-per-game scorer to being one of the top scorers in the country, that's a big achievement coming from an HBCU.

"Just seeing my game elevate and how it all worked out in my favor, finding a way to make a living and provide for my family … it's always amazing when I look back at it. If it wasn't for basketball, I probably wouldn't have gone to college. NSU was life-changing for me."