Ibrahim Jaaber (born February 3, 1984) is an American-born naturalized Bulgarian former 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. At 1.88 m (6'2") in height, he played at both the

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

and

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

positions. He also played for the senior

Bulgarian national basketball team The Bulgaria men's national basketball team ( bg, Български национален отбор по баскетбол, Balgarski natsionalen otbor po basketbol) represents Bulgaria in international basketball. The governing body is the Bu ...

, despite being born in the United States.

College career

As a former men's

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 ...

player at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, he won the Ivy League Player of the Year in his junior and senior years, in the process breaking the league's career record for steals (303) and finishing among the top pickpockets in college basketball (2nd nationally in steals his junior year and 3rd nationally in steals his senior year). With Mark Zoller, Ibby also led the Quakers to three straight Ivy League titles between his sophomore and senior years; he also played well in the team's three NCAA Tournament games getting 16 points against Texas A&M and 15 against Texas and he scored 21 points when Penn visited a top

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 ...

team. Jaaber will go down as one of the best players ever to play for the Quakers and is the all-time leader in steals at Penn and in the Ivy League.

Career college stats

* 2003–2004 (Penn): Pts: 6.5 Rbs: 2.4 Stls: 1.3 Ast: .6 * 2004–2005 (Penn): Pts: 11.5 Rbs: 4.6 Stls: 2.9 Ast: 2.8 * 2005–2006 (Penn): Pts: 18.2 Rbs: 3.4 Stls: 3.3 Ast: 2.2 (Ivy League Player of the Year) * 2006–2007 (Penn): Pts: 15.9 Rbs: 4.5 Stls: 2.9 Ast: 5.2 (Ivy League Player of the Year, Big 5 Player of the Year, AP All-American Notable) * Career: Pts: 13.3 Rbs: 3.8 Stls: 2.7 Ast: 2.8

Professional career

Ibrahim Jaaber was not drafted by any

NBA 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 St ...

teams, but he played for the Detroit Pistons' Summer League squad from July 7–14, 2007 and he subsequently signed a contract to play professionally for a Greek League team called

Aigaleo Aigaleo or Egaleo ( el, Αιγάλεω ) is a suburban municipality in the western part of Athens, belonging to the West Athens regional administrative unit. It takes its name from Mount Aigaleo. Its population was 69,946 at the 2011 census. Ge ...

. He then moved to the premiere EuroLeague to play with

Lottomatica Roma Pallacanestro Virtus Roma, commonly known as Virtus Roma, was an Italian professional basketball club based in Rome, Lazio. It competed in the Italian basketball league system, first division of Italian basketball, the Lega Basket Serie A, LBA, fo ...

. In the 2010 NBA Summer League, he played for the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

. In August 2010 he signed with AJ Milano. On January 30, 2013, Jaaber announced that he is leaving his former team Žalgiris Kaunas due to personal reasons. He also stated that he will not play for any other European team. Jaaber explained in a letter to the club he left Lithuania because he could not stand to see the dances too suggestive of Zalgiris cheerleaders and he disagreed with advertisements appearing on T-shirts team. "I am well aware that this might prevent me from earning money through basketball for the rest of my life, but I am willing to make this sacrifice because of my beliefs (Islam)," he wrote.

National team career

Jaaber played internationally with the senior men's

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2007–08 , style="text-align:left;",

, 6 , , 1 , , 22.4 , , .405 , , .273 , , .286 , , 3.3 , , 1.5 , , 2.5 , , .3 , , 7.5 , , 6.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , style="text-align:left;", Lottomatica Roma , 16 , , 15 , , 26.3 , , .576 , , .280 , , .594 , , 3.3 , , 1.9 , , 1.9 , , .3 , , 10.4 , , 10.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;", Lottomatica Roma , 10 , , 10 , , 31.0 , , .463 , , .225 , , .625 , , 4.4 , , 2.5 , , 2.2 , , .1 , , 10.4 , , 8.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, style="text-align:left;", AJ Milano , 10 , , 1 , , 24.4 , , .588 , , .353 , , .750 , , 1.7 , , 2.4 , , .7 , , .3 , , 10.8 , , 9.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, style="text-align:left;", Zalgiris , 14 , , 10 , , 21.1 , , .515 , , .333 , , .619 , , 2.2 , , 2.2 , , 1.9 , , .1 , , 5.9 , , 7.4

References

External links

Euroleague.net Profile

Biography
@ Pennathletics.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Jaaber, Ibrahim Living people 1984 births Aigaleo B.C. players African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Iran American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Lithuania American men's basketball players Basketball players from New Jersey BC Žalgiris players Bulgarian men's basketball players Bulgarian people of American descent Elizabeth High School (New Jersey) alumni Naturalised citizens of Bulgaria Olimpia Milano players Pallacanestro Virtus Roma players Penn Quakers men's basketball players Petrochimi Bandar Imam BC players Point guards Shooting guards Sportspeople from Elizabeth, New Jersey 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people