Jermaine Samuels Jr. (born November 13, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Villanova Wildcats. Samuels attended The

Rivers School The Rivers School is an independent, coeducational preparatory school in Weston, Massachusetts. Rivers' Middle School program includes grades 6-8, while its Upper School program includes grades 9-12. As of 2014, 489 students are enrolled from ...

and averaged 17.5

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of points by nu ...

as a senior, earning First team All-USA Massachusetts honors. He was highly recruited and committed to play at Villanova over several other schools. Samuels did not play much as a freshman on the team that won the 2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. As a sophomore, he had an expanded role and averaged 6.4 points per game. Despite a foot injury during his junior season, Samuels averaged 10.7 points per game. He averaged 12 points per game as a senior, and returned for a fifth season of eligibility.

Early life and high school career

Samuels is the son of Taihish and Jermaine Samuels Sr. and grew up in

Franklin, Massachusetts The Town of Franklin is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Franklin is one of thirteen Massachusetts municipalities that have applied for, and been granted, city forms of government but wish to retain "The town of" in their o ...

. He began dunking the basketball at age 13 after growing from 5'9 to 6'3. Samuels attended The

, where he was coached by Andrew Mirken, as well as playing basketball in the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) for Expressions Elite. In his freshman season, he averaged 19 points per game for The Rivers School. As a sophomore, he had a knee injury which required surgery and six months recovery. Samuels averaged 17.5

points Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Point ...

and 12.1

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

per game as a senior and was named First team All-USA Massachusetts by '' USA Today''. Samuels committed to playing college basketball for Villanova in November 2016, turning down offers from Indiana, Duke, Kansas, UConn, Georgetown, Arizona State and California. ESPN ranked him the 52nd best recruit in his class. He picked Villanova after visiting the campus in August 2016 and feeling very comfortable around the campus and coaches.

College career

Samuels had a season-high 11 points in a 103–85 win against DePaul on December 27, 2017. However, he fractured his left hand in the game and missed several weeks of playing time. He rejoined the rotation in February 2018 but struggled to receive consistent minutes and did not play in NCAA Tournament victories over West Virginia and Texas Tech. Samuels averaged 1.1 points and 1.2 rebounds per game as a freshman on a team that won the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game. On February 27, 2019, Samuels scored a season-high 29 points in a 67–61 win against Marquette. He had 12 points and seven rebounds in an NCAA Tournament win over

Saint Mary's St. Mary's, St. Marys, or St. Maries may refer to the following places: Australia * St Marys, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** St Marys railway station, Sydney ** North St Marys, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * St Marys, South Austra ...

. Samuels helped Villanova achieve a 26–10 record and win the Big East Conference. He averaged 6.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game as a sophomore. Coming into his junior season, Samuels was named to the Preseason Second Team All-Big East alongside teammate Collin Gillespie. Samuels scored 15 points in a 56–55 win against top-ranked Kansas on December 21, 2019, including a three-pointer with 20.5 seconds remaining. On January 18, Samuels scored 19 points including a crucial three-point play in a 61–55 win against UConn. He had 20 points in a 76–61 win over

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...

on January 21. On January 28, 2020, Samuels missed a game against St. John's with a sprained foot. Samuels made the game winning three-point play in a 70–69 win over Georgetown on March 7, finishing with 13 points. As a junior, Samuels averaged 10.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. He was named to the Second Team All- Big 5. During the 2020 offseason, Samuels worked on his decision-making and three-point shooting, while struggle to find practice space due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He was named to the preseason Julius Erving Award watchlist. On February 7, 2021, Samuels scored a career-high 32 points and had six rebounds, five assists and three steals in an 84–74 win against Georgetown. As a senior, Samuels averaged 12 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, earning All-Big East Honorable Mention recognition. Following the season, he announced he was returning for a fifth season of eligibility. On December 21, 2021, Samuels surpassed the 1,000 point threshold in a 84–74 win against Xavier.

Professional career

Fort Wayne Mad Ants (2022–present)

On October 24, 2022, Samuels joined the Fort Wayne Mad Ants training camp roster.

National team career

In July and August 2019, Samuels was a part of the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

who competed at the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

in Peru. The team won the bronze medal, defeating the Dominican Republic with nine points from Samuels. He averaged 9.4 points per game during the tournament.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;", Villanova , 25 , , 0 , , 6.1 , , .250 , , .188 , , .625 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , .0 , , .1 , , 1.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;", Villanova , 35 , , 22 , , 22.0 , , .448 , , .347 , , .622 , , 5.4 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , .8 , , 6.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;", Villanova , 30 , , 30 , , 30.3 , , .464 , , .276 , , .727 , , 5.5 , , 2.0 , , .9 , , .7 , , 10.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, style="text-align:left;", Villanova , 25 , , 24 , , 29.3 , , .481 , , .371 , , .828 , , 6.4 , , 2.5 , , .6 , , .3 , , 12.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;", Villanova , 38 , , 37 , , 29.6 , , .472 , , .276 , , .770 , , 6.5 , , 1.4 , , .8 , , .7 , , 11.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 153 , , 113 , , 24.1 , , .461 , , .306 , , .740 , , 5.2 , , 1.4 , , .6 , , .5 , , 8.5

References

External links

Villanova Wildcats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samuels, Jermaine 1998 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players at the 2019 Pan American Games Basketball players from Massachusetts Fort Wayne Mad Ants players Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in basketball Small forwards Sportspeople from Middlesex County, Massachusetts United States men's national basketball team players Villanova Wildcats men's basketball players