Mustapha Heron
No. 5 – Auburn Tigers | |
---|---|
Position | Shooting guard |
League | Southeastern Conference |
Personal information | |
Born |
Derby, Connecticut | December 12, 1997
Nationality | American |
Listed height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) |
Listed weight | 218 lb (99 kg) |
Career information | |
High school |
Sacred Heart (Waterbury, Connecticut) |
College | Auburn (2016–present) |
Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Mustapha Heron (born December 12, 1997) is an American basketball player for the Auburn Tigers in the Southeastern Conference.
Early life
Mustapha Heron was born on December 12, 1997 in Derby, Connecticut to parents Thalia and Bryan Heron. He started playing basketball at the age of three. He has three sisters: Imani, Zari, and Aja.[1]
Heron gained notoriety as an eighth grader after a video of him guarding NBA all-star Chris Paul one-on-one at the Five-Star Skills Clinic was posted to YouTube in 2011. The video has since been viewed over 2 million times.[2]
High school career
Heron played his freshman year of high school at Wilbraham & Monson Academy before transferring to Sacred Heart High School, where he won three consecutive Connecticut state championships. He averaged 22.0 points per game and 5.3 rebounds per game as a junior at Sacred Heart, and 30.2 points per game and 8.0 rebounds per game during his senior season, including scoring 79 total points in the state semifinals and championship game.[3] Heron was selected as the New Haven Register Connecticut Boys Basketball Player of the Year in both 2015 and 2016, becoming the first player to win the award twice since Kris Dunn.[4] He was also recognized nationally, earning a spot on the USA Today All-USA Boys Basketball Third team in 2016.[5] Heron was selected to play in the 2016 Ballislife All-American Game, where he was named co-MVP alongside Lonzo Ball.[6]
Recruiting
Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mustapha Heron SG/SF |
Waterbury, CT | Sacred Heart | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Aug 16, 2015 | |
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 92 | ||||||
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 25th (#7 SF) Rivals: 19th (#6 SG) 247Sports: 24th (#4 SF) ESPN: 25th (#4 SG) | ||||||
Sources:
|
Despite being initially committed to Pittsburgh, Heron committed to play basketball at Auburn University on August 16, 2015,[7] and signed his National Letter of Intent to attend the university on November 12, 2015. In doing so, Heron became the first five-star men's basketball recruit to play at Auburn in program history.[8]
College career
In his first season at Auburn, Heron scored in double figures in every game but one, leading the team in scoring with 15.2 points per game and rebounding with 6.1 rebounds per game.[9] At the end of the season, he was named to the SEC All-Freshman team.[10] He was also named to the SEC All-Community Service team for his work in encouraging academics for athletes at his high school, Sacred Heart High School, and in promoting a weapons buy-back program in his hometown of Waterbury, Connecticut.[11]
College statistics
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016–17 | Auburn | 32 | 32 | 28.2 | .442 | .423 | .770 | 6.1 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 15.2 |
References
- ↑ "Mustapha Heron". NBA.com. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
- ↑ fivestarbasketball (2011-12-01), NBA Player Chris Paul goes one-on-one against a top 8th grader, retrieved 2017-04-24
- ↑ "'It would mean everything' - Basketball's Mustapha Heron ready to make instant impact". Retrieved 2017-05-01.
- ↑ "2015-16 Register State Boys Basketball Player of the Year: MUSTAPHA HERON, Sacred Heart - GameTime CT". GameTime CT. 2016-04-14. Retrieved 2017-04-19.
- ↑ "ALL-USA Boys Basketball: Third Team". USA Today High School Sports. 2016-03-29. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
- ↑ "Full Game: 2016 Ballislife All-American Game presented by Eastbay". Ballislife.com. 2016-05-02. Retrieved 2017-05-01.
- ↑ "Five-star Mustapha Heron commits to Auburn". Scout.com. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
- ↑ "Five-star Mustapha Heron signs with Auburn Basketball". Retrieved 2017-04-17.
- ↑ "Mustapha Heron College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
- ↑ "2017 SEC Men's Basketball Awards announced". Retrieved 2017-04-17.
- ↑ "2017 SEC Men's Basketball Community Service Team". Retrieved 2017-04-17.