Jay Patrick Guidinger (born August 18, 1969) is a retired 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 who played his entire

National Basketball Association 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 ...

(NBA) career for the Cleveland Cavaliers until retiring due to injuries.

Playing career

A 6'10"

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born in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, Guidinger played four seasons for the

University of Minnesota Duluth The University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) is a public university in Duluth, Minnesota. It is part of the University of Minnesota system and offers 16 bachelor's degrees in 88 Academic major, majors, graduate programs in 25 different fields, and a ...

(UMD)

Bulldogs The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.NAIA Men's Basketball Championships The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics men's basketball national championship has been held annually since 1937 (with the exception of 1944 and 2020). The tournament was established by James Naismith to crown a national champion for ...

All-American center (first team in 1990–91 and 1989–90 and third team in 1988–89), and became the first individual to be named

Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the western Midwestern United States. Nine of its ...

(NSIC) Player of the Year in three straight seasons. In 2001, Guidinger was inducted into the

Athletic Hall of Fame. On October 8, 1992, Guidinger signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Cavaliers as an

undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

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despite having

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on both of his knees prior to his initial tryout with the team.Jay Guidinger profile at LinkedIn
/ref> He played for the Cavaliers for two seasons as part of the team's seldom-used backup frontcourt to Brad Daugherty,

Larry Nance Larry Donnell Nance Sr. (born February 12, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. A forward from Clemson University, Nance played 13 seasons (1981–1994) in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Phoen ...

and John "Hot Rod" Williams, although he was in the starting lineup for five games during the 1992–93 season. He was then waived by the Cavaliers on December 23, 1993, but re-signed with the team for two 10-day contracts on January 19, 1994, before being signed for the rest of the season, his last as a professional. In his two NBA regular seasons (

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

and 1993–94), he played in 32 games and averaged 1.5 points, 1.5 rebounds, 0.3 assists, 0.2 steals and 0.2 blocks. Including the postseason, where he appeared in four games and scored two points in the 1993 NBA Playoffs against the

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and

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

, he has a career total of 100 points scored. Guidinger also had a short stint in the Continental Basketball Association with the

Rapid City Thrillers The Rapid City Thrillers were a semi-professional basketball team in Rapid City, South Dakota, that competed in the Continental Basketball Association beginning in the 1987 season. They were reincarnated in 1998 as an International Basketball As ...

during the 1993–94 season. In five games, he averaged 4.2 points and 5 rebounds per game.1994–95 Official CBA Guide and Register, page 288

Career after retirement

After retiring from basketball, Guidinger became an assistant coach for Cleveland State University. He then volunteered as an assistant coach at

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

, after which he left basketball to become a Regional/National Sales Manager at Interkal, Inc. Guidinger then worked as a sales representative at Dant Clayton Corporation, followed by Porter Athletics. He is currently employed as a Vice President/General Manager

Lamar Advertising Lamar Advertising is an outdoor advertising company which operates billboards, logo signs, and transit displays in the United States and Canada. The company was founded in 1902 by Charles W. Lamar and J.M. Coe, and is headquartered in Baton Rou ...

. Guidinger married Khai Guidinger (née Regan), a former player for the women's basketball team at

, in July, 1994. They have three children, one of whom, Jinda, is on the Western Illinois Fighting Leathernecks women's basketball team. Gabriel Guidinger is a member of the Juniata Eagles Men's Basketball team.

References

External links

*
Historical Player Profile
at

NBA.com 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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guidinger, Jay 1969 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Milwaukee Centers (basketball) Cleveland Cavaliers players Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's basketball players Rapid City Thrillers players Undrafted NBA players