Isaiah Todd (born October 17, 2001) 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

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of the

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(NBA). He was a consensus five-star

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and one of the best power forwards in the 2020 class. A former

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

commit, Todd chose to forgo his

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

eligibility to become the first player in history to sign with NBA G League Ignite. He finished his high school career at the

Word of God Christian Academy Word of God Christian Academy is a private, Christian, coeducational, primary and secondary day school located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Also known as Word of God, the school was founded in 1993. In 2015, a North Carolina think ...

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

Early life

Born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, Todd was raised by his mother, Marlene Venable, and did not know his father well. His mother sold

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

and

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...

at age twelve and served over three years in prison when she was sixteen. She was released from prison about four years before Todd's birth. When Todd started playing basketball, at age seven, he stood five feet tall. At that age, he met his first coach, Derrick Wilson, and began playing on recreational teams and on the

Amateur Athletic Union 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 ...

(AAU) circuit. Before eighth grade, Todd moved to

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

so that he could play year-round for his AAU program, Team Loaded.

High school career

In his first two years of high school, Todd played basketball for John Marshall High School in Richmond. As a freshman, he averaged 12.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, leading his team to district and regional titles. Todd was considered one of the area's best prospects since

Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

inductee

Moses Malone Moses Eugene Malone (March 23, 1955 – September 13, 2015) was an American professional basketball player who played in both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1974 through 1995. A cent ...

. As a sophomore, Todd averaged 18.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game, shooting 39 percent from three-point range, to help John Marshall win the Class 3 state championship. He was recognized as the Class 3 State Player of the Year and earned first-team All-Metro honors. For his junior season, Todd transferred to Trinity Academy, a private

Christian school A Christian school is a school run on Christian principles or by a Christian organization. The nature of Christian schools varies enormously from country to country, according to the religious, educational, and political cultures. In some countr ...

, on a scholarship. He was drawn there by coach Bryan Burrell, who he had previously worked with. Moving to Raleigh also allowed him to work closely with his personal trainer, Drew Hanlen. Todd led the team, which had been coming off two losing seasons, to a 21–12 record while averaging 28 points and 15 rebounds per game. He was named ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' All-USA North Carolina Player of the Year. Todd transferred to another private Christian school in Raleigh,

, for his final high school season, playing under Byron Williams in The Grind Session. As a senior, he was selected to play in the

McDonald's All-American Game The McDonald's All-American Game is the all-star basketball game played each year for American and Canadian boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the concl ...

and the Jordan Brand Classic, but both games were cancelled due to the

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Recruiting

Entering his sophomore season at John Marshall, Todd was ranked as the number one recruit in the 2020 class by

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. On October 17, 2019, he committed to play

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

over offers from

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

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 to ...

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 ...

, among others. At the time, Todd was a consensus top-15 player in his class. On April 14, 2020, he decommitted from Michigan and announced that he would forgo his

eligibility to pursue a professional career.

Professional career

NBA G League Ignite (2020–2021)

On April 17, 2020, Todd signed a one-year contract with the NBA G League Ignite, a developmental team affiliated with the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

. He was drawn to the G League because he wanted to "learn from pros and learn from NBA coaches and trainers." Todd averaged 12.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.

Washington Wizards (2021–present)

Todd was selected in the second round of the

2021 NBA draft The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. With the first overall pick, the Detroit Pistons selected Cade Cunningham. The NBA us ...

with the 31st pick by the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

. He was subsequently traded to the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

for the draft rights of the 54th and 60th picks,

Sandro Mamukelashvili Alexander "Sandro" Mamukelashvili ( ka, ალექსანდრე "სანდრო" მამუკელაშვილი; born May 23, 1999) is a Georgian-American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the Nationa ...

and

Georgios Kalaitzakis Georgios Kalaitzakis (Greek: Γιώργος Καλαϊτζάκης ; born January 2, 1999) is a Greek professional basketball player for Panathinaikos of the Greek Basket League and the EuroLeague. He can primarily play at the small forward posi ...

, and two future second-round draft picks. He was then traded to his hometown team, the

, alongside

Aaron Holiday Aaron Shawn Holiday (born September 30, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The guard played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, where he earned All-American ...

for the draft rights of

Isaiah Jackson Isaiah Allen Jackson (born 22 January 1945) is an American conductor who served a seven-year term as conductor of the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, of which he has been named Conductor Emeritus. He was the first African-American to be a ...

, in a five-team trade. On January 28, 2022, the Wizards suspended Todd for one game for "conduct detrimental to the team." Todd appeared in 12 games for the Wizards during the 2021-2022 season.

Career statistics

NBA

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National team career

Todd won a gold medal with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

at the

2017 FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship The 2017 FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship was the men's international basketball competition that was held in Formosa, Argentina from 14–18 June 2017. The successfully defended their title against , 111–60, in the rematch of the Finals. ...

in Formosa, Argentina. He averaged 5.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in five games.

References

External links

NBA G League profileUSA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Todd, Isaiah 2001 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Baltimore Capital City Go-Go players McDonald's High School All-Americans Milwaukee Bucks draft picks NBA G League Ignite players Power forwards (basketball) Washington Wizards players