John Michael Fulkerson (born April 29, 1997) is an American

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...

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

Leuven Bears Leuven Bears, for sponsorship reasons also called Stella Artois Leuven Bears, is a Belgian professional basketball club from Leuven. The club competes in the BNXT League, the highest tier in Belgian basketball. History The team has played in the ...

of the BNXT League.

High school career

In his first two years of high school, Fulkerson played basketball for

Dobyns-Bennett High School Dobyns-Bennett High School is a high school ( grades 9–12) in Kingsport, Tennessee, United States. It typically educates around 1,800 students, although enrollment for the 2014–15 academic year exceeded 2,100 students. As a part of Kingsport ...

in his hometown of Kingsport, Tennessee, before transferring to Christ School in Arden, North Carolina to gain more exposure. As a junior, he averaged 10 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game, tying a school record with 93 blocks. In his senior season, Fulkerson averaged 14.5 points, 11.1 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.5 blocks per game, breaking

Marshall Plumlee Marshall Harrison Plumlee (born July 14, 1992) is an American former professional basketball player and is an active-duty United States Army Ranger School, Ranger-Qualified officer. He played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils men's baske ...

's school single-season blocks record with 112. He earned NCISAA 3-A All-State accolades and was named Carolinas Athletic Association Player of the Year.

Recruiting

Fulkerson was considered a three-star

recruit __NOTOC__ Recruit can refer to: Military * Military recruitment * Recruit training, in the military * '' Rekrut'' (English: Recruit), a military recruit or low rank in German-speaking countries * Seaman recruit Books *''Le Réquisitionnaire'' (E ...

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and

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. On November 6, 2015, he committed to play college basketball for

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

over 20 other

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...

programs, including

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and Clemson. He was drawn to the Volunteers because he had grown up supporting the team.

College career

On November 22, 2016, in his first season at Tennessee, Fulkerson recorded 12 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks in a 69–65 overtime loss to 13th-ranked

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

. On December 15 against Lipscomb, he fractured his right wrist and dislocated his right elbow, sidelining him for the remainder of the season. Fulkerson underwent surgery for the injury and was granted a medical

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after ...

. Before playing another game, he suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder that required another surgery. In his following season, as a redshirt freshman, Fulkerson averaged 9.3 minutes per game. In his sophomore season, he served as Tennessee's primary frontcourt player off the bench. On December 29, 2018, Fulkerson scored a season-high 15 points in a 96–53 win over

Tennessee Tech Tennessee Technological University, commonly referred to as Tennessee Tech, is a public research university in Cookeville, Tennessee, United States. It was formerly known as Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, and before that as University of Dixie ...

. As a sophomore, he averaged 3.1 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. In his junior season, Fulkerson was placed in a more important role with the departures of Grant Williams and

Kyle Alexander Kyle John Solomon Alexander (born October 21, 1996) is a Canadian professional basketball player for Hapoel Tel Aviv of the Israeli Premier League and EuroCup. He played college basketball for the Tennessee Volunteers. High school career Alexa ...

. On February 15, 2020, Fulkerson posted 25 points in a 63–61 loss to

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. On March 3, he scored a career-high 27 points to help unranked Tennessee overcome a 17-point deficit and upset sixth-ranked

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

, 81–73. Fulkerson finished the season averaging 13.7 points and 5.9 rebounds per game and was named to the Second Team All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) by the league's coaches. He led his team in scoring, rebounding and steals, while shooting 61.2 percent from the field, which ranked second in the SEC and fourth in school history. Fulkerson suffered a concussion and facial fracture during Tennessee's 78–64 win over

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

in the 2021 SEC Tournament, forcing him to miss the remaining two games of the season. As a senior, Fulkerson averaged 9.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. He decided to return for a sixth season in April, taking advantage of the NCAA's granting of an additional year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fulkerson underwent wrist surgery in June 2021. Due to his East Tennessee upbringing, humble personality, the length of his college career, and his style of play, Fulkerson cemented himself as an all-time fan favorite among Volunteer fans. During his career, signs reading “The Incredible Fulk” would often be seen from the Tennessee student section.

Professional career

On July 29, 2022, he has signed with

of the BNXT League.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

, 10 , , 6 , , 16.0 , , .567 , , – , , .650 , , 4.6 , , 1.0 , , 1.1 , , .9 , , 4.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, 30 , , 1 , , 9.3 , , .429 , , – , , .727 , , 1.6 , , .5 , , .5 , , .3 , , 1.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , 0 , , 12.0 , , .583 , , – , , .644 , , 2.6 , , .7 , , .5 , , .7 , , 3.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 31 , , 31 , , 30.1 , , .612 , , .500 , , .748 , , 5.9 , , 1.3 , , 1.1 , , .9 , , 13.7 , - , 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 b ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 25 , , 24 , , 26.4 , , .527 , , .000 , , .747 , , 5.5 , , 1.7 , , .5 , , .6 , , 9.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 132 , , 62 , , 18.7 , , .567 , , .200 , , .726 , , 3.9 , , 1.0 , , .7 , , .6 , , 6.6

References

External links

Tennessee Volunteers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fulkerson, John 1997 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Tennessee Christ School (North Carolina) alumni Leuven Bears players People from Kingsport, Tennessee Power forwards (basketball) Tennessee Volunteers basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Belgium