Taqwa Pinero[1] (born Taquan Dean on August 6, 1983) is an American professional basketball player who lastly played for Élan Béarnais Pau-Lacq-Orthez of the LNB Pro A.

[2] Dean was a star college basketball player for the University of Louisville through 2006, where he majored in justice administration.

In July 2008, Dean played for the Phoenix Suns in the Las Vegas NBA Summer League.

[11] On October 10, 2016, after legally changing his name to Taqwa Pinero,[1] he signed with Hoops Club of the Lebanese Basketball League.

[14] Later that month, he signed with French club Élan Béarnais Pau-Lacq-Orthez for the rest of the 2016–17 Pro A season.