Derrick Lamar Jasper (born April 13, 1988) is a former American basketball player from San Luis Obispo, California. He was listed as a point guard, but was considered versatile enough to also play the shooting guard and

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger ...

positions. Jasper was selected to the SEC All-Freshman Team in 2007.

Early life

Jasper was ranked in the top 40 in many national recruiting rankings and was a consensus 4-star prospect. He was also the third-ranked point guard in the class of 2006 by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

, in addition to being ranked as the 25th overall recruit, in early 2005. One of his top honors in

AAU basketball The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

was winning the MVP award at the Adidas Super 64 Tournament. He attended

Paso Robles High School Paso Robles High School (PRHS) is the only comprehensive high school located in the city of Paso Robles, California. The school receives its students from George H. Flamson Middle School and Daniel E. Lewis Middle School, both located in Paso Roble ...

. After receiving offers from schools such as Memphis, Washington, and Illinois, he decided to play at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

, verbally committing in September 2005 and joining

Jodie Meeks Orestes Jodie Meeks II (born August 21, 1987) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Birmingham Squadron of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the University of Kentucky. ...

, Perry Stevenson and Michael Porter in comprising the Wildcats' 2006 recruiting class when he signed his National Letter of Intent in November.

College career

Kentucky

As a freshman, Jasper was chosen to start as coach

Tubby Smith Orlando Henry "Tubby" Smith (born June 30, 1951) is an American college basketball coach. He was the men's basketball coach at High Point University, his alma mater. Smith previously served in the same role at the University of Tulsa, the Univer ...

's point guard. He ultimately started the final 27 games of the 2006–07 season. UK won its first 11 games with Jasper as a starter. Over the summer, he had microfracture surgery performed on his left knee and missed the first 10 games of the 2007–08 season. When he returned to action, he was the Wildcats' sixth man until freshman star Patrick Patterson would sit the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his ankle. After Patterson's injury, Jasper would take his place in the lineup. His final game with

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

would be played in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament vs. the

Marquette Golden Eagles The Marquette Golden Eagles, formerly known as the Marquette Warriors, Blue and Gold, Gold, Hilltoppers, and Golden Avalanche (football only), are the athletic teams representing Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. They ...

. Jasper earned SEC Academic Honor Roll status in 2008.

UNLV

In May 2008, rumors circulated that Jasper was transferring from Kentucky to a school closer to his

Paso Robles, California Paso Robles ( ), officially El Paso de Robles (Spanish for "The Pass of Oaks"), is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Salinas River approximately north of San Luis Obispo, the city is known for its hot ...

home. The schools that were named as his possible destinations were

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes th ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

. This proved to be true when he asked for his release from the team in June. Jasper said, "My transfer is no indication of my experience here; I like the direction they're headed in - it's just that I would like to attend a place closer to my home." Jasper transferred to UNLV to play for head coach

Lon Kruger Lonnie Duane Kruger (born August 19, 1952) is a retired American college and professional basketball coach who was most recently the men's basketball head coach of the University of Oklahoma. Kruger played college basketball for Kansas State Uni ...

. He said he liked how he fit in with the team and how Kruger motivated his players. He sat out the 2008–09 season because of NCAA transfer rules. In October 2009, Jasper was selected as the Preseason

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations ...

Newcomer of the Year. He then started at guard for the Runnin' Rebels, and notably led the team to wins against 16th-ranked Louisville and No. 15 New Mexico, and earned his first

double-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

in college in a win over Tulsa at the

76 Classic The DirecTV Classic was an eight-team college basketball tournament held during Thanksgiving week at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. The tournament began in 2007, and was owned and operated by ESPN Plus, ESPN Regional Televis ...

in Anaheim. Jasper sustained a sprained MCL to his left knee in 2010, however, sidelining him for five weeks.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jasper, Derrick 1988 births Living people Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players Sportspeople from San Leandro, California Basketball players from Alameda County, California People from Paso Robles, California Sportspeople from San Luis Obispo County, California UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball players American men's basketball players Point guards