Taj Gray

Taj Gray
Personal information
Born	March 14, 1984 (age 40); Elitzur Ashkelon
2012	Guayama Puerto Rico
2017	Lobos UAD Mazatlán
2018	Windsor Canada
2018	Hong Kong
Career highlights and awards
	Big 12 All-Defensive team (2006); Big 12 pre-season Player of the Year (2006); 2x First-team All-Big 12 (2005-2006); Big 12 Newcomer of the year (2005); NJCAA National Tournament Runner-up (2004); NJCAA Player of the Year Runner-up (2004); NJCAA All-Tournament Team (2004); NJCAA first-team All-American (2004); NJCAA second-team All-American (2003); Mr. Kansas Basketball (2002);

Taj Allen Gray^[1] (born March 14, 1984) is an American professional basketball player. He was a basketball player for the University of Oklahoma.

Early years and high school career

Taj played middle school AAU for Wichita Razorback under Coach Steve Winters. They were ranked #1 in Kansas and #5 in the Midwest.

Gray attended

Wichita High School East

and as a senior led his team to the Kansas Class 6A state title, earning tournament MVP honors. He was also named Kansas High School Player of the Year after averaging 20.9 points and 15.5 rebounds and 6.4 blocks per game during his senior season.

College career

Junior college

Gray started his collegiate basketball career at Redlands Community College, where he was named second-team NJCAA All-American as a freshman and first-team All-American as a sophomore, finishing runner-up in the NJCAA Player of the Year balloting. Averaging 18.1 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3.3 block per game, he led Redlands to a 35–2 overall record and a national runner-up finish. In addition, he led the NJCAA Tournament with 12.3 rebounds per game and was named to the all-tourney team.

Oklahoma

A sought after junior college recruit, Gray transferred to the

2005 NCAA Tournament

. Gray averaged team-highs of 14.6 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, while posting a league second-best 12 double-doubles. Gray was named a first-team All-Big 12 selection by league coaches and was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Year.

Gray was named Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year before the start of his senior season and averaged 14.2 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocked shots per games which were all team highs. He was named a first-team All-Big 12 pick by Sports Illustrated and was named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team.

Professional career

Although he was projected to be a second-round draft pick,^[3] Gray was not selected in the 2006 NBA draft. He was subsequently invited to play for the Sacramento Kings' summer league team, but was not signed to a contract.^[4]

On August 10, 2006 Gray announced that he would play for

Ligue Nationale de Basketball, the top men's French professional basketball league.^[5]

One year later, after a very good season in Cholet, he announced that he would play for Paris Basket Racing for one year.

Gray signed on to the French team

LEB Oro

, the Spanish second league.

References

^ "USA 14 – Taj Allen Gray". FIBA.com. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
^ "Taj Gray - Oklahoma Sooners forward". ESPN. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
^ "Few early locks across Big 12". Retrieved 28 July 2023.
^ Griffin, David. "Breaking News in Tulsa, Oklahoma". www.newson6.com. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
^ The Wichita Eagle ^{[dead link]}

External links

[1] "USA 14 – Taj Allen Gray". FIBA.com. Retrieved January 26, 2020.

[2] "Taj Gray - Oklahoma Sooners forward". ESPN. Retrieved 28 July 2023.

[3] "Few early locks across Big 12". Retrieved 28 July 2023.

[4] Griffin, David. "Breaking News in Tulsa, Oklahoma". www.newson6.com. Retrieved 28 July 2023.

[5] The Wichita Eagle ^{[dead link]}

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