Javon Bess (born April 1, 1996) 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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for BG Göttingen of the Basketball Bundesliga. He played

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

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

and Saint Louis.

Early life and high school

Bess was born in Columbus, Ohio, grew up in Gahanna and moved to the suburb of Pickerington to live with his aunt and uncle when he was in eighth grade because of family issues. He attended

Pickerington High School Central Pickerington High School Central is a public high school in Pickerington, Ohio, United States. It is one of two high schools in the Pickerington Local School District. In the city of Pickerington, it is referred to simply as Central and their mas ...

and helped the Tigers win the 2012 Ohio High School Athletic Association Division I state basketball title as a sophomore. He moved back to Gahanna at the end of the school year to be with his parents and enrolled at Lincoln High School. As a junior, Bess averaged 18.5 points and 7.5 rebounds and was named second team all-Central District. Rated a three star recruit, Bess committed to play

at Michigan State University over offers from

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

, UMass and Xavier going into his senior year. As a senior, Bess averaged 22.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game and was named first team All-State and the Ohio Division I Co-Player of the Year.

College career

Michigan State

Bess began his collegiate career at Michigan State. After missing the first 10 games of his freshman season while recovering from a broken foot, he played in 12 games as a freshman, starting three and averaging 2.7 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. Bess's season ended early after re-breaking his foot. Bess began his sophomore season as a starter for the Spartans but his playing time went down significantly as the season progressed. He finished the year with 2.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 11 minutes played per game. He announced that he would be leaving the program after the end of the season. He initially committed to transfer to Akron, but de-committed to play at Saint Louis University.

Saint Louis

Bess sat out his junior season due to NCAA transfer rules. In his first season playing for the Billikens, Bess led the team with 13.3 points per game and total rebounds with 244 (7.8 per game) and was named to the Atlantic 10 Conference All-Defensive team. As a redshirt senior, Bess averaged 15.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game and was named second team All-Atlantic 10, All-Defense and the Defensive Player of the Year.

Professional career

Bess agreed to sign with the New Orleans Pelicans as an undrafted free agent on June 21, 2019. Bess officially signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the team on September 24, 2019. Bess was released by the Pelicans on October 19, 2019. Following his release, Bess joined the Pelicans'

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...

affiliate, the Erie BayHawks. On November 17, 2019, Bess had 19 points, three rebounds and one assist in a loss to the

Lakeland Magic The Lakeland Magic are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Lakeland, Florida, and are affiliated with the Orlando Magic. The Magic began play in the 2017–18 season and play their home games at the RP Fundi ...

. He missed four games in November and December 2019 with an ankle injury. In June 2021, Bess signed with Tindastóll of the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild karla. On June 15, 2022, he has signed with BG Göttingen of the Basketball Bundesliga.

The Basketball Tournament

Bess joined Big X, a team composed primarily of former Big Ten players in

The Basketball Tournament 2020 The Basketball Tournament 2020 was the seventh edition of The Basketball Tournament (TBT), a 5-on-5, single elimination basketball tournament. The tournament, involving 24 teams, started on July 4 and continued through the championship game on Jul ...

. He scored 11 points in a 79–74 win over alternate D2 in the first round.

References

External links

Michigan State Spartans bioSaint Louis Billikens bioRealGM profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bess, Javon 1996 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Iceland American men's basketball players Basketball players from Columbus, Ohio BG Göttingen players Erie BayHawks (2019–2021) players Lincoln High School (Gahanna, Ohio) alumni Michigan State Spartans men's basketball players Saint Louis Billikens men's basketball players Shooting guards Javon Bess Javon Bess