Taj Gray
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Taj Gray (born March 14, 1984 in Wichita, Kansas) was a basketball player for the University of Oklahoma.
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[edit] High School Career
Gray attended Wichita High School East and as a senior lead 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, 15.5 rebounds per game that season.
[edit] College career
[edit] 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.
[edit] Oklahoma
A sought after junior college recruits, Gray transferred to the University of Oklahoma instead of signing with Arkansas, Kansas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech.[1] In his first year at OU, the Sooners went 25-8, finished as the Big 12 co-champions and advanced to the second round of 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 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.
[edit] Professional career
Although he was projected to be a second-round draft pick,[2] 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.[3]
On August 10, 2006 Gray announced that he will play for Cholet Basketball, an A League team in the Ligue Nationale de Basketball, the top men's French professional basketball league.[4]
One year later, after a very good season in Cholet, he announced that he will play for Paris Basket Racing for one year.
