João Paulo Lopes "J. P." Batista (born October 29, 1981) is a Brazilian former

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 ...

and current coach. Standing at , he plays at the

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers. When on Of ...

position. He played college basketball at

Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) () is a private Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Founded in 1887 by Joseph Cataldo, an Italian-born priest and Jesuit missionary, the univ ...

and also started his coaching career with the Bulldogs, as an assistant.

Early life

Batista was born and raised in

Olinda Olinda () is a historic city in Pernambuco, Brazil, in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region. It is located on the country's northeastern Atlantic Ocean coast, in the Recife metropolitan area, Metropolitan Region of Recife, the state capi ...

Pernambuco Pernambuco () is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it seventh-most populous state of Brazil and with around 98,148 km², being the 19 ...

, attended Colegio Atual school in Olinda and was named State Player of the Year as a senior in 2001.

College career

Batista arrived at Gonzaga in 2004, after spending the first year of his college career at

Western Nebraska Community College Western Nebraska Community College (WNCC) is a public community college in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. It also has campuses in Sidney, Nebraska, and Alliance, Nebraska. WNCC was previously known as Scottsbluff Junior College, Scotts Bluff County Coll ...

and the second at

Barton County Community College Barton Community College, previously Barton County Community College, is a public community college in Great Bend, Kansas. Its service area includes Barton, Ellsworth, Pawnee, Rush and Russell Counties, Stafford County north of US Highway 5 ...

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 ...

, where he mentored teammate and fellow international student

Antanas Kavaliauskas Antanas Kavaliauskas (born September 19, 1984) is a Lithuanian professional basketball coach and former player. He serves as the director of player development for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). He played co ...

. He finished his first season with Gonzaga averaging 12 points and 6 rebounds per game, and was named the top newcomer in the

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...

. Playing alongside the All-American

Adam Morrison Adam John Morrison (born July 19, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. Morrison played for three years at Gonzaga University and was considered to be one of the top college basketball players in 2005–06. He was a finalist ...

, Batista finished the 2005-06 NCAA basketball season averaging over 19 points and 9 rebounds per game, while shooting a remarkable 59 percent from the field and 83 percent from the line.

Professional career

Despite his impressive collegiate statistics, Batista was generally ignored by the scouts leading up to the 2006 NBA Draft, with his lack of athleticism and his age (he was nearly 25 at the time of the draft, unusually old for a college prospect) perhaps hindering his chances of being drafted. Batista played for the

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 ...

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

entry in the Las Vegas Summer League, but he was not signed by the team. He accepted an offer to play for

Lietuvos rytas ''Lietuvos rytas'' (lit. 'Morning of Lithuania') is a Lithuanian daily newspaper. History and profile "Lietuvos rytas" was established in 1990 on a basis of newspaper "Komjaunimo tiesa". The paper is printed in Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also ...

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

, Lithuania in the LKL and ULEB Cup. With Lietuvos rytas he played in the ULEB Cup and Lithuanian basketball Cup finals, and won the

BBL A barrel is one of several units of volume applied in various contexts; there are dry barrels, fluid barrels (such as the U.K. beer barrel and U.S. beer barrel), oil barrels, and so forth. For historical reasons the volumes of some barrel units ...

championship. Their 2006-07 ULEB Cup run ended in a loss in the final to

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

, but since Real had already qualified for the 2007-08 Euroleague through their

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

position, Lietuvos rytas received the Euroleague berth that normally goes to the ULEB Cup winners. On June 16, 2014, he signed a two-year deal with French club

Limoges CSP Limoges Cercle Saint-Pierre, commonly referred to as Limoges CSP or CSP, is a French professional basketball club based in the city of Limoges. History The club was founded in 1929, but its peak was during the 1980s and 1990s, when they became t ...

. With them he won the 2014–15 LNB Pro A championship. On June 25, 2015, he parted ways with Limoges. On July 16, 2015, he returned to Brazil and signed with

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football t ...

. On June 25, 2019, he has signed a contract with Le Mans Sarthe of the

LNB Pro A The LNB Pro A, currently known for sponsorship reasons as Betclic Élite, is the top-tier men's professional basketball league in France. The competition has existed since 1921. Since 1987, the Ligue Nationale de Basket has governed the league. ...

Coaching career

On August 14, 2022, Batista joined the

Gonzaga Bulldogs The Gonzaga Bulldogs () (also known unofficially as the Zags) are the intercollegiate athletic teams representing Gonzaga University, located in Spokane, Washington, United States. Gonzaga competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association ...

as an assistant coach, thus returning to his alma mater after 16 years.

EuroLeague career statistics

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

Lietuvos Rytas ''Lietuvos rytas'' (lit. 'Morning of Lithuania') is a Lithuanian daily newspaper. History and profile "Lietuvos rytas" was established in 1990 on a basis of newspaper "Komjaunimo tiesa". The paper is printed in Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also ...

, 11 , , 0 , , 8.0 , , .516 , , .000 , , .556 , , 1.5 , , .2 , , .1 , , .0 , , 3.4 , , 2.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , style="text-align:left;",

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

, 10 , , 7 , , 23.5 , , .570 , , .000 , , .667 , , 3.8 , , 1.5 , , .7 , , .4 , , 11.4 , , 9.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;",

, 10 , , 1 , , 17.1 , , .455 , , .000 , , .818 , , 2.1 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , .2 , , 7.8 , , 6.0

National team career

Batista represents the senior men's

Brazilian national basketball team The Brazil national basketball team is governed by the Brazilian Basketball Confederation ( pt, Confederação Brasileira de Basketball), abbreviated as CBB. They have been a member of the International Federation of Basketball (FIBA), since 19 ...

and he was a part of the

2010 FIBA World Championship The 2010 FIBA World Championship was the 16th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship contested by the men's national teams. The tournament ran from 28 August to 12 September 2010. It was co-organised by the Inte ...

squad.