Ham Ji-hoon

Ham Ji-hoon (born December 11, 1984) is a South Korean professional basketball player. He plays for Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus in the Korean Basketball League and is the club's captain and longest-serving player after Yang Dong-geun.

In this Korean name, the family name is Ham.
Ham Ji-hoon
No. 12 – Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus
PositionForward
LeagueKorean Basketball League
Personal information
Born (1984-12-11) December 11, 1984
South Korea
NationalitySouth Korean
Listed height197.4 cm (6 ft 6 in)
Listed weight103 kg (227 lb)
Career information
High schoolKyungbock High School
CollegeChung-Ang University
KBL draft2007: 1st round, 10th overall pick
Playing career2007–present
Career history
2007–presentUlsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus
2010–2012→ Sangmu (military service)
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's Basketball
Asian Games
Bronze medal – third place2010 GuangzhouTeam
Korean name
Hangul
함지훈
Hanja
咸志勳
Revised RomanizationHam Ji-hun
McCune–ReischauerHam Chihun

Early life and college career

Ham attended Kyungbock High School and played as a forward before being converted into a center at Chung-Ang University.[1][2] Although his height, at just under 200 cm, is not considered tall for a center even by KBL standards, he stood out for his physicality.[2] Together with fellow seniors future MVP winners Park Sang-oh and Yoon Ho-young and freshman Oh Se-keun, they won the MBC Cup two years in a row, breaking Yonsei University's stranglehold and Ham was named tournament MVP of the 2006 edition.[3] They also won the 2007 National Basketball Festival (Korean: 농구대잔치) competition, the main collegiate competition of that time.

Professional career

Having been overshadowed by his Chung-Ang teammates, Ham mostly flew under the radar and it was reflected in his draft ranking. He was drafted tenth overall at the 2007 rookie draft by Ulsan Mobis Phoebus.[4] Under Yoo Jae-hak, he developed a reputation as a "blue worker", a Konglish corruption of the term blue-collar worker and a colloquialism in domestic basketball used to describe an unflashy yet essential player often tasked with defending the post or the more physical aspects of the team strategy. By his second season, he had played in all five positions.[2]

Ham enlisted for mandatory military service in April 2010 and was assigned the Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps's Sangmu team. He was discharged in February 2012.[5]

After Yang Dong-geun's retirement, Ham became the team captain and their longest-serving player.[6] He reached two career benchmarks within days of each other during the 2021–21 season: scoring 7,000 points and recording 2,400 assists.[7]

Personal life

Ham married his girlfriend of six years in April 2012.[5][8] They have two sons.[9]

References
  1. "중앙대학교의 졸업생 알아보기! 중앙대 OB탐방" (in Korean). Chung-Ang University. October 22, 2017.
  2. "[프로농구] '블루워커' 함지훈의 역발상". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). February 14, 2009.
  3. "[MBC배 대학농구] 중앙대, 6년만에 정상 탈환". The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). April 28, 2006.
  4. "'드래프트 10등의 반란' 함지훈". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). October 2, 2007.
  5. "[줌 인 스타] 함지훈, 날 기다린 '사랑의 고무신'…우승을 선물할게!". The Dong-a Ilbo (in Korean). March 5, 2012.
  6. "[10개 구단 주장 인터뷰] 9. 울산 현대모비스 피버스 함지훈". Basketball Life (농구인생) (in Korean). October 24, 2020.
  7. "[기록] 현대모비스 함지훈, 통산 2,400어시스트 달성..역대 7호". Jumpball (in Korean). January 1, 2022.
  8. ""결혼 예물은 챔피언 반지"". The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). March 2, 2012.
  9. "[매거진] '아빠는 말이야!' KBL을 누비는 아빠 선수들이 아이들에게". Jumpball (in Korean). March 26, 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.