Morris Almond

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Morris Almond (born February 2, 1985 in Dalton, Georgia) is an American basketball player currently with the NBA's Utah Jazz.

Almond attended McEachern High School in Powder Springs, Georgia and was a teammate of current Atlanta Hawks player Josh Smith.

Almond played college basketball at Rice University. He was relatively unknown in his first two seasons with the Owls, but he broke out of anonymity in his junior season. His scoring average jumped to 21.9 points per game (up from 7.2 points per game as a sophomore). His scoring average led all players in Conference USA that season.

With his increased fame, Almond considered skipping his final college season to play professional basketball. Ultimately, he decided to stay at Rice for his senior year; it turned out to be a great decision. He improved his scoring average further to 26.4 points per game, ranking third in the nation. He was named Conference USA Player of the Year and was named AP All-America Honorable Mention.

Almond finished his career at Rice with 121 games played and a scoring average of 15.1 points per game. After graduation, he was selected by the Utah Jazz in the first round (25th pick) in the 2007 NBA Draft.

Almond played sparingly in his rookie season with the Jazz, averaging just 4.3 minutes in 9 games. His career high is currently 5 points, achieved in two games late in the season. He scored his first NBA points on January 8, 2008 against the Indiana Pacers, with 2 points on 1/5 shooting. However, he spent considerable time with the team's D-League affiliate, the Utah Flash, to whom he was assigned.^[1] He led the D-League in scoring during the season, averaging 25.6 points per game.^[2] In just his fifth game with the team on December 21, 2007, he tied a league record with 51 points in a 118-116 victory over the Austin Toros.^[3] Later in the season, he broke the record with a 53-point performance against the Bakersfield Jam in a 102-87 win.^[4]

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Jazz Assigns Morris Almond and Kyrylo Fesenko To Utah Flash
2. ^ NBA D-League - 2007-08 scoring average
3. ^ Almond Ties D-League Record, Flash Outlast Toros
4. ^ Almond Leads Flash to 102-87 Win Over Jam

[edit] External links

• Morris Almond Info Page at NBA.com
• Official Rice bio
• Morris Almond named AP All America Honorable Mention

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