Jalen Billups
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 21, 1992 |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 200 cm (6 ft 7 in) |
| Listed weight | 109 kg (240 lb) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Shroder (Cincinnati, Ohio) |
| College | Northern Kentucky (2011–2016) |
| NBA draft | 2016: undrafted |
| Playing career | 2017–2022 |
| Position | Power forward / center |
| Career history | |
| 2017 | Cockburn Cougars |
| 2017 | Glasgow Rocks |
| 2018 | Joondalup Wolves |
| 2019 | Southern Huskies |
| 2021–2022 | Toyoda Gosei Scorpions |
| Career highlights | |
| |
Jalen Christopher Billups[1] (born December 21, 1992) is an American former professional basketball player. He played five years of college basketball for Northern Kentucky before starting his professional career in Australia with the Cockburn Cougars of the State Basketball League (SBL) in 2017. After a short stint in Scotland with the Glasgow Rocks, he returned to the SBL in 2018 and won the league's MVP with the Joondalup Wolves. He joined the Southern Huskies in 2019 for their inaugural season in the New Zealand NBL and then moved to Japan in 2021 to play for the Toyoda Gosei Scorpions of the Japanese B.League.
Hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio,[2] Billups attended Shroder High School, where he graduated in 2011. He averaged 19.2 points and 8.6 rebounds as a senior and was named to the all-city team and earned All-Cincinnati Metro Atlantic Conference accolades.[3]
College career
As a freshman with the Northern Kentucky Norse in 2011–12 in the NCAA Division II, Billups played 25 games with five starts and averaged 5.0 points per game. He scored a season-high 16 points against Lane College on November 18, 2011.[3]
For the 2012–13 season, the Norse entered the NCAA Division I.[4] Billups started seven games to begin the season before missing the final 19 games due to a medical condition.[3] In December 2012, just days after Christmas, he collapsed during practice. He was diagnosed with an arrhythmia, caused by problems with the system that regulates a steady heartbeat, and subsequently had a defibrillator placed inside his body in September 2013.[5][6] The season was classified as a medical redshirt year for Billups, which deemed him eligible for three more years upon being cleared to return to play.[6][7]
In the 2013–14 season, Billups saw action in all 30 games with 25 starts. He was third on the team in scoring (9.6 ppg) and first in rebounding (5.2 rpg).[3] He scored a career-high 25 points in NKU's 91–86 overtime win over Tulane on November 24, 2013.[8]
As a junior in 2014–15, Billups played 30 games with four starts and averaged 11.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game.[9] He subsequently earned second-team All-A-Sun honors.[3]
As a senior in 2015–16, Billups led NKU in scoring at 12.2 points per game to go with 5.5 rebounds. He recorded five 20-point outings during the season, including a season-high 22 points in a win against Oakland on January 19, 2016.[3] He again played in 30 games and started 29 of them.[9]
Billups graduated 20th all-time in scoring with 1,185 points and 11th in rebounds with 599. His 62.0 percent career shooting was second-best all time in 2016.[3]