John Hugh Eubanks, known as J. J. Eubanks (born November 13, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6-foot-6 guard/forward, he played his first two years of

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 ...

at Sullivan College in the

junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

circuit before transferring to

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

(where he never played a game) and then to

Tennessee State Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennes ...

. After going undrafted in the 1991 NBA draft he started his professional career in the

World Basketball League World Basketball League (WBL) was a minor professional basketball league in the United States and Canada that ran from 1988 to 1992. It was founded as the International Basketball Association in November 1987, before changing its name prior to the 1 ...

where he won the Rookie of the Year award. He had his first experience in Europe with

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

club

Basket Rimini Rinascita Basket Rimini (RBR), formerly known as Basket Rimini and Basket Rimini Crabs, is an Italian basketball team based in Rimini, Emilia-Romagna. From the 1978–79 to the 2010–11 season, the team continuously played in professional basket ...

. On October 9, 1994 he scored 101 points during an Israeli league game between Maccabi Ramat Gan and

Beitar Ramat Gan The Betar Movement ( he, תנועת בית"ר), also spelled Beitar (), is a Revisionist Zionist youth movement founded in 1923 in Riga, Latvia, by Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky. Chapters sprang up across Europe, even during World War II. After ...

, setting a single-game scoring record for the league and becoming one of the players to score 100 or more points in a game. He was the top scorer in the 1994–95 Israel Basketball Premier League. In his career he played in Italy,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

, establishing himself as a prolific scorer: he won three scoring titles (one in Israel and two in Argentina) and set single-game scoring records in Israel (101 points) and Cyprus (84 points).

High school career

Eubanks was born in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

and attended Seneca High School: during his first years at Seneca he was not selected to play for the varsity basketball team, but after a

growth spurt Human height or stature is the distance from the bottom of the feet to the top of the head in a human body, standing erect. It is measured using a stadiometer, in centimetres when using the metric system or SI system, or feet and inches when u ...

from 5'10" (1.78 m) to 6'1" (1.86 m) in one year, he made the team and averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds per game in his senior season.

College career

After graduating high school in 1987, Eubanks chose to play for

Sullivan College of Technology and Design Sullivan College of Technology and Design was a private, technology-based for-profit career college in Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the Uni ...

, that competed in the Kentucky Junior College Athletic Conference. During his time at Sullivan he had several games where he scored 20 or more points, especially in his sophomore season. On December 17, 1987 he scored 42 points against Aquinas Junior College. On December 2, 1988 he scored a then career-best and Sullivan school record 47 points against Edison State on 18/24 shooting (6/10 on three-pointers) and 5/6 on free throws. On January 7, 1989 against Cuyahoga he scored a career-high 48 points (beating his previous record), shooting 17/24 from the field (7/13 from three) and 7/8 on free throws. He also recorded 8 rebounds in the game. After two years at Sullivan Eubanks committed to Division I school

; however, after coach Rick Huckabay left before the start of the 1989–90 season, being replaced by

Dana Altman Dana Dean Altman (born June 16, 1958) is an American college basketball coach who is the head coach of the Oregon Ducks men's basketball, Oregon Ducks men's team. Previously he was head coach at Creighton Bluejays men's basketball, Creighton, Ka ...

, he reconsidered his choice. He quit the team in late November 1989 and transferred to

: as a result, he had to sit out the entire season, and he was not eligible to play until December 15, 1990. He debuted for the Tigers scoring 30 points on December 17, 1990 against

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

. On January 22, 1991 he was named OVC Player of the Week, and on January 29, 2991 he was named Co-Newcomer of the Week. Eubanks led Tennessee State with 24.2 points per game in 19 games played, playing 33.8 minutes per game. He also averaged 6.7 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 1 steal per game.

College statistics

, - , align="left" , 1990–91 , align="left" ,

, 19 , , 14 , , 33.8 , , .458 , , .356 , , .806 , , 6.7 , , 0.9 , , 1.0 , , 0.4 , , 24.2 , -

Professional career

Eubanks started his professional career in 1991, signing for the Nashville Stars in the

after participating in a free agent camp. At the end of the season he was named the WBL Rookie of the Year having averaged 17.1 points per game. After playing in the WBL in the summer he joined the

Global Basketball Association The Global Basketball Association (GBA) was a professional basketball minor league based in the United States. The majority of the league's franchises were based in the Southern United States, with the remaining teams located in the Midwest. The le ...

in the winter of 1991: he was a territorial draft pick for the

Music City Jammers The Global Basketball Association (GBA) was a professional basketball minor league based in the United States. The majority of the league's franchises were based in the Southern United States, with the remaining teams located in the Midwest. The ...

and started the season there, averaging 11.6 points per game, and was then was traded to the

Louisville Shooters Louisville Shooters was a team from Louisville, Kentucky that competed in the Global Basketball Association during its inaugural 1991–1992 season and three games into its second season. The Louisville Shooters played their home games in the Lou ...

in December, making his debut on December 11, 1991 scoring 14 points against the

Albany Sharp Shooters The Global Basketball Association (GBA) was a professional basketball minor league based in the United States. The majority of the league's franchises were based in the Southern United States, with the remaining teams located in the Midwest. The ...

. In the month of February 1992 he was traded to the Albany Sharp Shooters. However, he did not play for Albany and moved to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

instead, signing for

club

: he debuted against Philips Milano scoring 44 points in 38 minutes of play. After 4 games (during which he averaged 32.5 points per game) he was dismissed from the team. In 1993 Eubanks joined the

Halifax Windjammers The Halifax Windjammers were a franchise in the World Basketball League that began play in 1991. The team continued operation after the WBL folded in 1992, when they joined the newly formed National Basketball League. The NBL folded midway thro ...

in the newly formed National Basketball League; he also played for the

Winnipeg Thunder The Winnipeg Thunder was a professional basketball franchise based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, from 1992 to 1994. The Thunder played its inaugural season in the World Basketball League, which folded before the schedule ended. The club then joined the na ...

. He signed for

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

team

Sporting B.C. Sporting B.C. (Greek: ΚΑΕ Σπόρτιγκ) is a Greek professional basketball team that is located at Ano Patissia, Athens, Greece, at the area of Elia Zervou 89 and Sarantaporoy. The club's full name is A.O. Sporting Athens B.C. (Greek: Α.Ο ...

, briefly playing there before moving back to the United States, joining the

Tri-City Chinook The Tri-City Chinook were a professional basketball team based in Kennewick, Washington. They played 4 seasons in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), the defunct development league for the National Basketball Association (NBA). The te ...

in the CBA: after 8 games averaging 5.3 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.3 assists in 12.6 minutes per game, he signed for the

Rockford Lightning The Rockford Lightning was a basketball team that played in the Continental Basketball Association. They were based in Rockford, Illinois. History The Lightning were the oldest team in the CBA, originally existing as the Lancaster Red Roses fro ...

, where he posted averages of 6 points and 1 rebound per game in 19.5 minutes of playing time. In the summer of 1994 he participated in 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 ...

rookie-free agent camp in the summer of 1994, averaging 16 points in 15 minutes per game during preseason games, but he did not make the final roster for the 1994–95 NBA season. In 1994 Eubanks signed for

i club Maccabi Ramat Gan. On October 9, 1994 he scored 101 points during an Israeli league game between Maccabi Ramat Gan and

, shooting 40/57 from the field (9/22 from the three-point line) and 12/14 on free throws. He set a single-game scoring record for the league and became one of the players to score 100 or more points in a game. He played 26 games in the season, averaging 5.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists and a league-leading 30.9 points per game, shooting 43% from three and 92% from the free throw line. The following season he joined Hapoel Eilat, and played 22 games in the 1995–96 season, averaging 22.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists shooting 43% from three and 83% on free throws. In 1996 he left Israel and played two years in

with Toyota Motors Pacers; he then joined Puerto Rican side

Gallitos de Isabela Gallitos de Isabela is a professional basketball team based in Isabela, Puerto Rico. They play their home games at the José Abreu Coliseum. History In 1984, the Gallitos reached the BSN Finals, during that year known, due to a scandal concerni ...

. In 1999 he moved to

, where he signed for

Estudiantes de Olavarría Club Atlético Estudiantes, usually called Estudiantes de Olavarría, is an Argentine sports club based in Olavarría, Buenos Aires Province. Club's nickname is ''Albinegro''. Estudiantes gained notoriety in late 1990s when the basketball team ...

. In his first season he led the league in scoring, averaging 25.9 points in 41 games (1,060 total points), and won the league title. In the 1999–2000 season he led the LNB in scoring again, averaging 27.5 points in 55 games (1,514 total points, one of the best results in LNB history). On November 14, 1999 Eubanks scored 55 points against Andino in a 109–83 win, shooting 19/25 (7/9 from the three-point range) and 10/11 on free throws. At the end of the season he won his second personal championship, was named the top scorer, and received the LNB Best Foreign Player award. He left Argentina for

in 2000, joining

Cocodrilos de Caracas Cocodrilos de Caracas () is a Venezuelan professional basketball club based in Caracas. Established in 1990, the club competes in the Venezuelan SuperLiga and has won six national championships. The Cocodrilos' home games are played at the Parque N ...

: he then signed for Atenas, and played part of the 2001–02 season there, thus winning his second LNB championship. In 2001 he also played in Cyprus for

AEL Limassol Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou ( el, Αθλητική Ένωση Λεμεσού, translation=Athletic Union of Limassol) commonly known as AEL, is a Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, most famous for its football team. AEL also maintain ...

: in February 2001 he scored 84 points in a 152–73 win against

PAEEK PAEEK ( el, ΠΑΕΕΚ; short for Ποδοσφαιρική Αθλητική Ένωση Επαρχίας Κερύνειας, ''Podosfairiki Athlitiki Enosi Eparxeias Kerynias'', translated as "Football and Sport Union of Kyrenia District", lite ...

, beating the previous league record of 75 that had been established by Tony Harris in 1995. Eubanks returned to Italy to play for

Viola Reggio Calabria Viola Reggio Calabria was an Italian professional basketball club based in Reggio Calabria, Calabria. At its heyday the club was renowned for discovering talented players who would go on to play at the highest level, for example five former pla ...

, and debuted for the team on the 13th round, playing against De Vizia Avellino, scoring 12 points. He played 25 games that season (24 starts), averaging 18.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, shooting 38.4% from three and 88.8% from the free throw line. In the following season he was second in the league in scoring with 19.6 points per game behind

Boris Gorenc Boris Gorenc (born 3 December 1973) is a former Slovenian professional basketball player, and basketball agent. Professional career Gorenc started playing basketball in KK Domžale, before in 1990 he joined KK Olimpija. He had been member Olim ...

of Metis Varese. That year he shot 40% from three and 92.9% from the free throw line. He then started the 2003–04 season with Ironi Ramat Gan, but he played only one game, scoring 19 points and recording 6 rebounds and 1 assist in 31 minutes of play. After that, he came back to Reggio Calabria where he played one last season, averaging 15.7 points per game.

References

External links

Career stats at ProBallers.comProfile at RealGM.com

Italian league statsIsraeli league stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eubanks, J. J. 1968 births Living people African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Argentina American expatriate basketball people in Canada American expatriate basketball people in Cyprus American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Japan American expatriate basketball people in Venezuela American men's basketball players AEL Limassol B.C. players Alvark Tokyo players Atenas basketball players Basket Rimini Crabs players Basketball players from Louisville, Kentucky Cocodrilos de Caracas players Estudiantes de Olavarría basketball players Hapoel Eilat basketball players Ironi Ramat Gan players Israeli Basketball Premier League players Lega Basket Serie A players Rockford Lightning players Seneca High School (Louisville, Kentucky) alumni Shooting guards Small forwards Sporting basketball players Tennessee State Tigers basketball players Tri-City Chinook players Viola Reggio Calabria players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople