Jalen Billups

Jalen Billups (born December 21, 1992) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Toyoda Gosei Scorpions of the Japanese B.League. 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 as well as guiding the Joondalup Wolves to the SBL Grand Final. 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.

Jalen Billups
Personal information
Born (1992-12-21) December 21, 1992
Cincinnati, Ohio
NationalityAmerican
Listed height200 cm (6 ft 7 in)
Listed weight109 kg (240 lb)
Career information
High schoolShroder (Cincinnati, Ohio)
CollegeNorthern Kentucky (2011–2016)
NBA draft2016: undrafted
Playing career2017–present
PositionPower forward / center
Career history
2017Cockburn Cougars
2017Glasgow Rocks
2018Joondalup Wolves
2019Southern Huskies
2021–2022Toyoda Gosei Scorpions
Career highlights and awards

Early life

Billups was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.[1] He attended Shroder High School in Cincinnati, 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.[2]

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.[2]

For the 2012–13 season, the Norse entered the NCAA Division I.[3] Billups started seven games to begin the season before missing the final 19 games due to a medical condition.[2] In December 2012, just days after Christmas, he collapsed during practice. He was diagnosed with an arrythmia, caused by problems with the system that regulates a steady heartbeat, and subsequently had a defibrillator placed inside his body in September 2013.[4][5] 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.[5][6]

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).[2] He scored a career-high 25 points in NKU's 91–86 overtime win over Tulane on November 24, 2013.[7]

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.[8] He subsequently earned second-team All-A-Sun honors.[2]

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.[2] He again played in 30 games and started 29 of them.[8]

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.[2]

Professional career

Billups moved to Australia in early 2017 to play for the Cockburn Cougars of the State Basketball League (SBL).[9][10] He recorded season highs of 40 points and 16 rebounds on May 6 against the Willetton Tigers.[11] He was named SBL Player of the Week four times[12] and helped the Cougars finish the regular season in seventh place with a 15–11 record.[13] They went on to lose 2–1 to the Joondalup Wolves in the quarter-finals.[14] In 29 games during the 2017 SBL season, he averaged 23.83 points, 9.76 rebounds and 1.59 assists per game.[11]

On August 24, 2017, Billups signed with the Glasgow Rocks of the British Basketball League (BBL) for the 2017–18 season.[15] He was named in the BBL All-Star Five for week four.[16] He played 12 games for the Rocks between October 1 and December 3, averaging 15.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.3 assist per game.[17]

On January 15, 2018, Billups signed with the Joondalup Wolves for the 2018 SBL season.[18] He scored a season-high 34 points on July 14 against the Lakeside Lightning.[19] He was named SBL Player of the Week two times[20][21] and helped the Wolves finish the regular season in second place with a 21–5 record.[22] They went on to reach the SBL Grand Final after going undefeated over the first two rounds of the finals.[23] In the grand final, the Wolves lost 94–87 to the Perry Lakes Hawks despite Billups' 22 points and 13 rebounds, with foul trouble limiting him to 24 minutes.[24] For the season, he was named the SBL MVP and earned All-SBL First Team honors.[25] In 31 games, he averaged 23.87 points, 8.16 rebounds and 1.48 assists per game.[19]

Following the SBL season, Billups trialled with the Maine Red Claws of the NBA G League.[26] He was then set to play in China during the 2018–19 season before a calf injury cut short his stint.[27][28]

On December 10, 2018, Billups signed with the Southern Huskies for their inaugural season in the New Zealand NBL.[29] In their third game of the 2019 season on April 21, he recorded 32 points and 15 rebounds against the Hawke's Bay Hawks.[30] He was subsequently named NZNBL Player of the Week for round two[31] and over the course of the season earned three Team of the Week honors.[32][33][34] The Huskies missed the finals with a fifth-place finish and a 9–9 record.[35] In 18 games, he averaged 21.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.[36][37]

On February 14, 2020, Billups signed with the Ballarat Miners of the NBL1 South.[38][39] He was unable to debut for the Miners following the cancellation of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[40]

On August 30, 2021, Billups signed with the Toyoda Gosei Scorpions of the Japanese B.League third division.[41] He had three 40-point games throughout the 2021–22 season,[17] including 46 points on January 22, 2022, against the Yamaguchi Patriots.[42] The Scorpions finished the season in 13th place with a 9–39 record.[43] In 48 games, he averaged 20.9 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.0 blocks per game.[44]

References
  1. "Jalen Billups". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on May 18, 2022.
  2. "Jalen Billups". nkunorse.com. Archived from the original on May 18, 2022.
  3. Wilder, Stephen (December 8, 2011). "It's official: NKU is going Division I". thenortherner.com. Archived from the original on June 15, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  4. Groeschen, Tom (January 17, 2014). "NKU's Billups puts heart ailment behind to play ball". cincinnati.com. Archived from the original on May 18, 2022.
  5. Hardin, Marc (November 22, 2015). "Catching up with NKU's Jalen Billups". cincinnati.com. Archived from the original on June 16, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  6. "Jalen Billups' Journey Back to the Court". YouTube. Horizon League. November 13, 2015. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  7. "Northern Kentucky knocks off Tulane in OT, 91-86". ESPN.com. November 24, 2013. Archived from the original on May 18, 2022.
  8. "Jalen Billups". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on May 18, 2022.
  9. "2017 Men's SBL season preview". SBL.asn.au. March 17, 2017. Archived from the original on May 18, 2022.
  10. Luff, Bryce (May 12, 2017). "SBL: Cockburn's Jalen Billups strives for perfection on the court". perthnow.com.au. Cockburn Gazette. Archived from the original on May 18, 2022.
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  12. "PLAYERS OF THE WEEK". SBL.asn.au. Archived from the original on September 12, 2017. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
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  27. "Jalen Billups plans to make a big impact when he hits the floor for the Southern Huskies next week". themercury.com.au. April 11, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2022. Billups declared he was recovered from a calf complaint which cut short his time recently in China...
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  29. "Huskies sign man mountain as momentum grows for debut season". themercury.com.au. December 10, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2022. American Jalen Billups — a 200cm, 120kg power forward — has officially joined the club as one of its marquee imports for next year's New Zealand NBL season.
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  40. "Imports departs as fans wonder what could have been". thecourier.com.au. April 9, 2020. Archived from the original on May 23, 2022.
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