Curtis Jerrells

Curtis Jerrells
Player information
Full name	Curtis Louis Jerrells Jr.
birthday	5th February 1987 (age 33)
place of birth	Austin, Texas, United States
size	185 cm
position	Point guard
college	Baylor University
Club information
society	Banco di Sardegna Sassari
league	Lega Basket Serie A
Clubs as active
2005–2009 Baylor Bears ( NCAA ) 2009–2010 Austin Toros 2010–2011 KK Partizan Belgrade 2011–2012 Fenerbahçe Ülker 2012 UCAM Murcia 2012–2013 Beşiktaş Istanbul 2013 Maine Red Claws 2013–2014 EA7 Armani Milan 2014–2015 UNICS Kazan 2016 Galatasaray Istanbul 2016–2017 Hapoel Jerusalem 2017–2019 EA7 Armani Milan Since 2019 Dinamo Basket Sassari 00000 00000 00000 0

Curtis Louis Jerrells Jr. (born February 5, 1987 in Austin , Texas ) is an American basketball player . After studying in his home country, Jerrells first played as a professional in the NBA Development League (D-League) before continuing his career in Europe. After working in Serbia , Turkey , Spain , Russia and Israel , he has been back in Italy since the 2017/18 season, initially for the Italian record champions Olimpia Milano and since 2019 for Dinamo Sassari. In 2011 Jerrells won the double in Serbia with KK Partizan and the title in the ABA league .

Career

After graduating from school in his hometown, Jerrells went to study at the neighboring Baylor University in Waco , where he played for the college team Bears in the NCAA's Big 12 Conference from 2005 . After violating the NCAA regulations, the Bears were given various penalties and the team was in the process of being rebuilt. As a freshman, Jerrells was already one of the starting five of every game and at the end of his four-year college days was the top scorer and best assist provider for his team every season . This makes him one of the three best players in the history of this university team in these categories in the “all-time” statistics of the Bears. In 2008 they received an invitation to the national NCAA finals tournament for the first time , but failed in the first round at the Boilermakers of Purdue University . A year later, Jerrells and his teammates, including the later NBA players Quincy Acy and Ekpe Udoh , surprisingly moved into the Big 12 championship final, which was lost to the Tigers of the University of Missouri , but after a moderate season it was only enough for the National Invitation Tournament in the postseason . There you reached the final, which was lost to the Penn State Nittany Lions after a half-time lead.

After Jerrells was not considered in the NBA Draft 2009 , he was able to attract attention in the NBA Summer League for the Dallas Mavericks and at the training camps of the NBA clubs for the San Antonio Spurs . There he did not make it into the season squad, but the Spurs promised him a place on their farm team Toros in the D-League, which played in Jerrells' hometown Austin. There he played until March 2010, when the Spurs took him directly under contract, but initially to let him continue playing with the Toros. In the 2009/10 D-League season, Jerrells was one of the best players in various statistical categories, but the Toros just barely missed making it into the play-off final series in the semi-finals against eventual title winners Rio Grande Valley Vipers . In October 2010, Jerrells was signed by the New Orleans Hornets , who released him before the start of the season. In the 2010/11 season Jerrells then played for KK Partizan from the Serbian capital Belgrade , who defended their titles in the national championship, the national cup competition and in the ABA league . In the top-ranking European club competition ULEB Euroleague 2010/11 they had reached the intermediate round of the 16 best teams, in which, however, they had only won one in six games at the Turkish club Efes Pilsen Istanbul .

For the 2011/12 season, Jerrells was signed by Efes' local rivals Fenerbahçe Ülker from Istanbul in the Türkiye Basketbol Ligi for two years. At Fenerbahçe, however, Jerrells did not convince and after the team in the ULEB Euroleague 2011/12 also failed in the intermediate round, Jerrells was dismissed in February 2012. In March 2012 he joined UCAM from Murcia in the Spanish ACB league for the rest of the season, where he only had two appearances and missed the end of the season due to injury. For the 2012/13 season, Jerrells was signed by the Turkish double winner Beşiktaş, who remained without a win in the ULEB Euroleague 2012/13 in the extended intermediate round of the 16 best teams after the seven first legs. After losing to Jerrell's former club and local rival Fenerbahçe Ülker in the Euroleague, Jerrells was also dismissed at Beşiktaş and returned to the D-League of his homeland in March 2013, where he swapped players for the Maine after being admitted to the Sioux Falls Skyforce Red Claws came. In the play-offs of the D-League, the Red Claws lost in the first round against the eventual title winner Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

Jerrells returned to Europe for the 2013/14 season and was signed by the Italian record champions EA7 Emporio Armani from Milan . His compatriot Keith Langford , who was four years older and also from Texas, played there. At the beginning of his professional career he had also been active for the Austin Toros and only made a few appearances for the Spurs in the NBA. With this team, Jerrells was able to successfully survive the intermediate round of the ULEB Euroleague 2013/14 after including two wins against Fenerbahçe Ülker and initially had home rights in the play-off quarter-final series in order to be able to reach the Final Four tournament in their own hall. But against the eventual title winner Maccabi Tel Aviv you only won the second game, in which Jerrells was named MVP of the Euroleague match day because of his effectiveness , and was eliminated. In the national championship they reached the final series against serial champion Montepaschi Siena , who had previously won the championship title seven times in a row. Jerrells won the final series with Milano and thus the Italian championship.

Web links

• JERRELLS, CURTIS - Statistics on the websites of the ULEB ( English )
• Curtis Jerrells - player profile on the websites of the Serie A ( Italian )
• Curtis Jerrells - player profile on basketball-reference.com
• Curtis Jerrell's Bio - Profile on Baylor University Sports Websites

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 2009-10 D-League Season Summary. Basketball-Reference.com, accessed on June 13, 2014 (English, season summary). 
2. ↑ Fenerbahce Ulker - Turkish Basketball League Team: 2011-2012 Season Squad. TBLStat.net, accessed on June 13, 2014 (English, seasonal roster ). 
3. ↑ ACB.COM: Curtis Jerrells. Liga ACB , accessed June 13, 2014 (Spanish, player profile). 
4. ^ Besiktas JK lands Jerrells at point. ULEB , August 29, 2012, accessed June 13, 2014 . 
5. ↑ Curtis Jerrells - Turkish Basketball League Player. TBLStat.net, accessed on June 13, 2014 (English, player profile on statistics pages ). 
6. ^ NBA Development League: Red Claws Acquire Point Guard from Skyforce. (No longer available online.) National Basketball Association , March 8, 2013, archived from the original on March 23, 2015 ; Retrieved June 13, 2014 (English, media info Maine Red Claws). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
7. ↑ Playoffs Game 2 bwin co-MVPs: Ioannis Bourousis and Curtis Jerrells. ULEB , April 19, 2014, accessed on June 13, 2014 (English, media info).