Gene Banks

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Gene Banks
Hapoel Herzliya
As coach:
2009–2012Washington Wizards (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points
5,305 (11.3 ppg)
Rebounds2,718 (5.8 rpg)
Assists1,335 (2.9 apg)
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at Basketball-Reference.com

Eugene Lavon Banks (born May 15, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. He was born and raised in Philadelphia.

Early life and education

Banks was born in

McDonald's All-American team, which played in the 1977 Capital Classic;[1][2]
he was also voted its MVP.

Banks' attended Duke University, where he played for college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils. He also was heavily recruited by other NCAA Division I college basketball programs, including UCLA and Villanova. Banks has said that a high school teacher had repeatedly emphasized Duke's academic opportunities, which prompted him to participate in a recruiting visit to the school.[3]

College basketball career

At Duke, Banks started as a freshman alongside such players as Mike Gminski, Jim Spanarkel, and Kenny Dennard. After finishing last in the conference the prior year, the Blue Devils were ranked in the top 10 by the end of the regular season. Qualifying for the NCAA tournament for the first time in a dozen years, the Blue Devils reached the championship game in 1978, losing to Kentucky, 94–88. During that rookie season, Banks became the first Duke freshman to record a triple double and was named the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Rookie of the Year.

Banks' teams never again made it to the Final Four, though they did qualify for the NCAA tournament during two of the next three years. The team's overall record during his 4 years was 90–37. During the course of his 4-year Duke career, Banks averaged 16.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, and shot 53% from the field.[4] During those final three seasons, Banks was named team MVP each year.[4]

During his senior season, playing for Mike Krzyzewski, Banks won the ACC scoring title over such players as James Worthy and Ralph Sampson. He was named to All American teams after two of his seasons.

Banks is widely seen as a crucial recruit as Duke slowly transitioned into the world of integrated college basketball. While the sixth African American player in Duke's history, he was the school's first Black All American, setting the stage for Coach Krzyzewski's later recruiting success.[5]

Banks received his BA in English from Duke in May 1981, where he was one of the two graduation speakers selected from the student body.

Professional basketball

Banks played six seasons and 468 games in the National Basketball Association. Competing for the San Antonio Spurs and the Chicago Bulls, he averaged 11.3 points per game. His career high of 44 points was achieved against the Los Angeles Lakers in 1983. He recorded his first NBA triple-double with the Chicago Bulls.

In the 1988–89 season, Banks played in

Hapoel Herzliya
and took them to the Israeli Cup Championship game.

Between these stints, Banks played the 1989–90 season with the La Crosse Catbirds of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), averaging 15.3 points in 40 games. The Catbirds would go on to win the CBA title that year.[6]

Coaching

In 2009, Gene Banks became an assistant coach with the

Kevin Seraphin
.

Honors

Banks was inducted into the Duke Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994, and the Duke Hall of Honors in 1996.

In 2007, Banks was named the "best foreign player" to ever play for Maccabi Rishon LeZion.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1981–82 San Antonio 80 4 21.3 .477 .000 .684 5.1 1.8 .7 .2 9.6
1982–83 San Antonio 81 81 33.6 .550 .000 .705 7.6 3.4 1.0 .3 14.9
1983–84 San Antonio 80 66 32.5 .568 .167 .741 7.3 3.2 1.3 .3 13.1
1984–85 San Antonio 82 41 25.5 .586 .333 .774 5.4 2.9 .8 .2 9.5
1985–86 Chicago 82 33 26.1 .517 .000 .718 4.4 3.1 1.0 .1 10.9
1986–87 Chicago 63 39 28.9 .539 .000 .767 4.9 2.7 .8 .3 9.7
Career 468 264 27.9 .539 .043 .730 5.8 2.9 .9 .2 11.3

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1982
 San Antonio 9 – 16.2 .462 .000 .400 4.8 1.0 .4 .3 7.1
1983
 San Antonio 11 – 36.2 .507 – .657 6.9 4.5 1.0 .1 15.9
1985
 San Antonio 1 0 10.0 .000 – – .0 1.0 .0 .0 .0
1986
 Chicago 3 0 23.0 .556 .000 .500 3.3 1.7 .3 .0 7.3
1987
 Chicago 3 3 26.3 .591 – .625 2.7 .7 .0 .0 10.3
Career 27 3 26.0 .504 .000 .596 5.1 2.5 .6 .1 10.8

See also

References

  1. ^ "The Origin of the McDonalds All American Game". ESPN. February 26, 2003. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  2. Newspapers.com
    .
  3. ^ Bell, Daryl (February 26, 2019). "Before Zion: How Gene Banks paved the way for Duke's stars".
  4. ^ a b "Gene Banks College Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
  5. ISBN 9781599210421
    . Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  6. ^ 1990–91 CBA Official Guide and Register, page 250
  7. ^ "Wizards Assistant Coaches". Washington Wizards.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gene Banks.
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