#ProJackets Basketball Update

Oct. 2, 2015

THE FLATS – As NBA training camps open this week, six former Yellow Jackets are on NBA rosters. Chris Bosh, Derrick Favors, Jarrett Jack, Anthony Morrow, Iman Shumpert and Thaddeus Young have each become league mainstays. Four of Tech’s six NBA players are penciled in as starters entering training camp.

Chris Bosh – Bosh begins his 13th NBA season and sixth with the Miami Heat on the heels of a life-threatening blood clot scare last February. Bosh was hospitalized for nine days and missed the final two months of the season after blood clots were discovered in one of his lungs. Following a full recovery, he spent the summer working out and was cleared for contact earlier this month. Read more on his road to recovery here.

Derrick Favors – Favors had an eventful offseason becoming a father and welcoming twin girls in late August. On the floor, the forward begins his sixth season with the Jazz and has said on record that he has set a personal goal to make the all-star team. Read more on Derrick Favors preseason aspirations here.

Jarrett Jack – Jack enters his 11th season in the NBA and his second with the Brooklyn Nets. The point guard did not change teams over the offseason for the first time since 2011. He has played for seven teams in his career, but has rarely been a wire-to-wire starter making more than 55 starts in a season only once (2005-06). That could change as Jack enters training camp as the Brooklyn’s starting point guard with the support of head coach Lionel Hollins. Check out what Hollins had to say about Jack here.

Anthony Morrow – Morrow returns to Oklahoma City for his eighth NBA season and second with the Thunder. Morrow closed out last season shooting a blistering 50% from long range in the final three months. Unbeknownst to many, Anthony Morrow ranks in among the NBA’s three-point shooting greats with a career mark of 42.9% which is ninth all-time. Morrow looks to make his first career postseason appearance with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook returning from injury and new head coach Billy Donovan arriving from Florida.

Iman Shumpert – Shumpert extended Tech’s five-year streak of having a Yellow Jacket in the NBA Finals with Cleveland facing Golden State last June. Shumpert returns to the Cavaliers this fall after re-signing for four years, but will miss more than three months with a right wrist injury. When Shumpert does return it will mark the start of his fifth NBA season and second with the Cavaliers. Read the latest on Shumpert’s injury here.

Thaddeus Young – Young begins his ninth NBA season and his first full year with the Brooklyn Nets and fellow Yellow Jacket, Jarrett Jack. Young is also a projected starter for the Nets and averaged over 14.0 ppg last season. Young has received resounding off the floor support from the Brooklyn community after purchasing a condo with his family in Brooklyn. ESPN reports that he “is believed to have become the first player in Brooklyn Nets history to ever move to the borough.” Read the full ESPN feature here.

In addition to Tech’s six NBA regulars, 10 more Yellow Jackets have committed to play abroad this coming season. They are listed below with their team name and country:
Alade Aminu – Hapoel Eilat (Israel)
Will Bynum – Guangdong Southern Tigers (China)
Mouhammad Faye – Openjobmetis Varese (Italy)
Trae Golden – Etha (Cyprus)
Gani Lawal – EA7 Emporio Armani Milano (Italy)
Stephon Marbury – Beijing Ducks (China)
Daniel Miller – Akhisar Belediye (Turkey)
Zachery Peacock – JL Bourg Basket (France)
Robert Sampson – Atenas Cordoba (Argentina)
Luke Schenscher – Townsville Crocodiles (Australia)
Jeremis Smith – Hapoel Holon (Israel)

In addition to the players above, the following players played last season but have yet to sign a professional contract for the 2015-16 season: Demarco Cox, Kammeon Holsey, Anthony McHenry, Brian Oliver, Brandon Reed, Glen Rice, Jr., Lance Storrs, Mfon Udofia, Mario West