Mike Conley, Jr.

Michael Alex "Mike" Conley, Jr. (born October 11, 1987) is an American professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association.

Conley is the son of Olympic gold and silver medalist triple jumper Mike Conley, Sr. and the nephew of former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Steve Conley.

Born in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Conley attended Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he played with friend and future Ohio State teammate Greg Oden. The Memphis Grizzlies drafted Conley in 2007 as the fourth pick, and Conley has played his entire career with that team.

High school

Conley led Lawrence North to three straight state championships in high school and a record of 103 wins and 7 losses in his four years as the starting point guard. His senior year, he dished out a total of 123 assists. Conley finished second in the voting of the Indiana Mr. Basketball award to his teammate Greg Oden, who was the national player of the year. He was selected to the McDonald's All American team, which is the highest individual honor in high school basketball today. In that game, Conley led his team with a game-high 10 rebounds. He was later named a PARADE All-American in his senior year.

He went to Ohio State in the number two recruiting class in the country that year with fellow AAU teammates Daequan Cook and Greg Oden.

College

Conley averaged 11.7 points and was the leader in the Big Ten Conference in assists with 6.1 per game. Conley led the Buckeyes to the Big Ten championship game, where they defeated Wisconsin to receive a number one seed into the NCAA tournament. He and fellow freshman star Greg Oden then led Ohio State to the 2007 NCAA national championship game.

On the road to the championship game, the Buckeyes defeated Central Connecticut State, Xavier, Tennessee, Memphis and Georgetown, only to lose in the championship game to the repeat national champions Florida. Conley's best performance came against Xavier, when the Buckeyes were being threatened with an early exit out of the tourney. In the overtime period, Mike Conley dominated the game while teammate Greg Oden was on the bench after fouling out. Conley scored 11 points in the extra period to add on to his 21-point total for the game. He also scored the first seven points for Ohio State in overtime, then four free throws in the last 1:03. He led the team with four assists, two steals, and three blocks.^[1]

Conley ended his season with 441 points and 238 assists.

Following his freshman season, Conley announced his intention to enter the 2007 NBA Draft along with Oden. Conley initially did not sign with an agent in order to preserve his eligibility should he decide to withdraw from the process and return to Ohio State,^[2] but signed with his father several weeks before the draft.

NBA career

NBA Draft

Mike Conley joined fellow Buckeye teammates Greg Oden and Daequan Cook in leaving early for the NBA Draft, and Oden and Conley were represented by Conley's father, who had become certified as an agent by the NBA.

Conley was drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies as the fourth pick in the 2007 NBA Draft after Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, and Al Horford. He was the third player out of the top four draft picks that year who were freshmen in college prior to entering the draft. Only Horford, a junior, was an upperclassman.

Rookie season

Conley made his first major appearances in January, 2008. Conley's first five games of January featured him scoring 5, 10, 11, 11 and 15 points, respectively. Conley also had 7 assists in the 101–94 victory over the Miami Heat. Then in the 134–124 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Conley scored a season-high 20 points with 7 assists. He then followed up with 7 points and 8 assists against the Seattle SuperSonics. In the victory over the Chicago Bulls, Conley scored 10 points and 10 assists, followed by 13 points against the Orlando Magic.

Conley then started up February with 16 points against the New Orleans Hornets in the fourth game of the month.

Second year – fall and rise

As the season began Conley was the starter, but coach Marc Iavaroni soon replaced him with Kyle Lowry. Up to mid-January Conley averaged around 7.5 points per game, and 3.4 assists per game, while competing for minutes with Kyle Lowry and Javaris Crittenton. On December 10, 2008 Javaris Crittenton was traded. On January 25, 2009 the Grizzlies named Lionel Hollins head coach after firing Mark Iavaroni two days earlier. Then, on February 19, 2009 Kyle Lowry was traded to Houston, putting Conley in the starting point-guard position on his own. From that point on Conley averaged 14.8 points per game, and 5.7 assists.

2010–11 season

Conley entered the season as the starting point guard and one of the best players on the team. On November 30, Conley had 28 points in a 98–96 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. On April 8 in a 101–96 victory over the Sacramento Kings, Conley had 12 points, 8 assist, and 5 rebounds. With that win, Conley and the Grizzlies clinched a playoff berth for the first time in five years.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

See also

• 2006 high school boys basketball All-Americans

Notes

External links

• Michael Conley's Official Yardbarker Blog
• Mike Conley, Jr. at NBA.com
• Ohio State Buckeyes bio of Conley