Jelani Akil Gardner (born December 26, 1975) is an American-French

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 ...

coach and former professional player. He is 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) in height. He played mainly at the

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

position, but also at the

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

and

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger t ...

positions. He played with the Milton Keynes Lions Basketball Club until he was released in January 2011.

College career

After playing high school basketball at St. John Bosco High School in

Bellflower, California Bellflower is a city located in southeast Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was founded in 1906 and municipal corporation, incorporated on September 3, 1957. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total popu ...

, Gardner 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 ...

at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

. However, when his parents became disenchanted with their son's lack of playing time, they revealed to the NCAA that

Todd Bozeman Todd Anthony Bozeman (born December 5, 1963) is an American college basketball coach who is currently an assistant coach for Rhode Island Rams men's basketball, Rhode Island, where he also had a collegiate playing career. He was the head men's bas ...

, Cal's head coach, had paid them about $30,000 over a two-year period so his parents could attend Jelani's games. After the scandal broke, Gardner transferred to

Pepperdine Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and ...

. Bozeman was ultimately forced to resign and effectively blackballed from the college ranks until 2005, and Cal was forced to forfeit every game in which Gardner played (the entire 1994–95 season and all but two games of the 1995–96 season).

Professional career

A blood test as part of a pre- NBA draft physical examination in 1995 revealed that Gardner had kidney disease, further hurting his NBA Draft stock. Gardner played professionally with clubs such as Maccabi Rishon, the

Grand Rapids Hoops The Grand Rapids Hoops were a basketball team that played in the Continental Basketball Association based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Their first season was in 1989 and their final season was in 2003. Professional basketball later returned to Grand ...

, the

Fort Wayne Fury The Fort Wayne Fury was a professional basketball team in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) from 1991 through the cessation of the CBA on February 8, 2001. History The team played at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne ...

, the Hamburg Tigers, the

Roanoke Dazzle The Roanoke Dazzle were an NBA Development League team based in Roanoke, Virginia, U.S.. In operation from the inaugural D-League season of 2001–02 through the 2005–06 season, the Dazzle marked the return of professional basketball to Roanoke ...

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

, Krka Novo Mesto, ESPE Basket Châlons-en-Champagne, AS Golbey-Epinal,

Universitet Yugra Surgut Universitet Yugra, also called Universitet Yugra Surgut is a Russian professional basketball team. The team competes in the Russian Super League. Honours *Russian Basketball Super League 1 **Winners (2): 2003-04, 2016–17 Roster Notab ...

, Trikala 2000 in his professional career. Finally, in 2002, after playing with kidney disease for 7 years, Gardner reached the critical stage of his condition and received a kidney transplant from his mother that year.Gardner gets a second chance
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External links

Basketpedya.com Player Profile

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Jelani Living people 1975 births Basketball players from California California Golden Bears men's basketball players French men's basketball players McDonald's High School All-Americans London Lions (basketball) players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Pepperdine Waves men's basketball players Point guards Shooting guards Small forwards Trikala B.C. players Kidney transplant recipients American men's basketball players