Cameron Whitmore (born July 8, 2004) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA). He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Villanova Wildcats The Villanova Wildcats are the athletic teams of Villanova University. They compete in the Big East (NCAA Division I) for every sport; except football and rowing where they compete in the Colonial Athletic Association (Football Championship Sub ...

. He was a consensus five-star

recruit __NOTOC__ Recruit can refer to: Military * Military recruitment * Recruit training, in the military * '' Rekrut'' (English: Recruit), a military recruit or low rank in German-speaking countries * Seaman recruit Books *''Le Réquisitionnaire'' (E ...

and one of the top players in the 2022 class.

High school career

Whitmore attended

Archbishop Spalding High School Archbishop Spalding High School is a private, Catholic co-educational high school located in Severn, Maryland, USA. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore. Most of its students live in Annapolis, Crownsville, Arnold, Pasad ...

Severn, Maryland Severn is a census-designated place (CDP) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population of Severn is 57,118, a 22.6% increase from 44,231 according to the 2010 census. The zip code is 21144. Geograp ...

. As a senior, he was the ''

Capital Gazette Capital Gazette Communications, owned by Tribune Publishing through its subsidiary the Baltimore Sun Media Group, publishes the daily ''The Capital'' and the twice-weekly ''Maryland Gazette'' newspapers and the weeklies '' Bowie Blade-News'' and '' ...

'' boys basketball player of the year. He was selected to play in the 2022 McDonald's All-American Boys Game. He played in the

2022 FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship The 2022 FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship was an international under-18 basketball tournament that was held from 6 to 12 June 2022 in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. The twelfth edition of the biennial competition, this is also the qualifyin ...

, where he was named MVP.

Recruiting

Whitmore was a consensus five-star

and one of the top players in the 2022 class, according to major recruiting services. On October 7, 2021, he committed to playing college basketball for Villanova over offers from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

College career

After missing seven games with a thumb injury, Whitmore made his collegiate debut versus Oklahoma. In his first season with Villanova, Whitmore averaged 12.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 0.7 assists per game. At the conclusion of his freshman year, Whitmore was named the

Big East Conference Men's Basketball Freshman of the Year The Big East Conference Men's Basketball Freshman of the Year, known as Big East Conference Men's Basketball Rookie of the Year from 1989 to 2015, is a Rookie of the Year award given annually by the Big East Conference to one or more men's basketbal ...

. He later declared for the 2023 NBA draft becoming Villanova's first true one-and-done since Tim Thomas in 1997.

Professional career

Houston Rockets (2023–present)

Before the draft, Whitmore was widely regarded to be a lottery pick with some projections placing him as high as fourth overall. The

selected Whitmore with the twentieth overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft. On October 26, 2023, he made his NBA debut, scoring no points along with one rebound in a 116–86 loss to the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...

. He made his first NBA start on January 21, 2024, in a home loss to the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

. Whitmore recorded 5 points, 4 rebounds, a block, a steal, and no assists on 27% shooting from the field (25% from three) as the

lost 116-107. On January 26 2024, Whitmore recorded his first career double-double and his then-career high, recording 24 points, 11 rebounds and 2 assists on 50% shooting (44% from three) in a 138-104 win over the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...

Player profile

Standing at 6-foot-7 and 235 pounds, Whitmore plays at the small forward position. At the 2023 NBA Combine, Whitmore finished third in max vertical leap (40.5 inches). Scouts viewed Whitmore as a versatile wing with tremendous upside and athleticism. Offensively, he can effectively use a range of dribble moves to score in transition against similarly-sized defenders. Coming into the league, commentators noted his half-court scoring, vision, and IQ as weaknesses. He has been compared to

Jae Crowder Corey Jae Crowder (born July 6, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Not being heavily recruited out of high school, Crowder committed to South Georgia Technical ...

and

Caron Butler James Caron Butler (born March 13, 1980) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). During a 14-year career he played for the Miami Hea ...

Career statistics

College

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2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

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References

External links

Villanova Wildcats bioUSA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitmore, Cam 2004 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Maryland Houston Rockets draft picks Houston Rockets players McDonald's High School All-Americans People from Odenton, Maryland Rio Grande Valley Vipers players Sportspeople from Anne Arundel County, Maryland Small forwards Villanova Wildcats men's basketball players