John Konchar (born March 22, 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 the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

of the

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). 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 the

Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons The Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons, formerly known as the IPFW Mastodons and Fort Wayne Mastodons, are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Purdue University Fort Wayne (PFW). The school's athletic program includes 16 varsity sports t ...

High school career

Konchar played basketball for West Chicago High School in

West Chicago, Illinois West Chicago is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 27,086 at the 2010 census. It was formerly named Junction and later Turner, after its founder, John B. Turner, president of the Galena and Chicago Union Railro ...

. In his junior season, he averaged 19.7 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and two steals, leading his team in most statistical categories. They finished with a 5–22 record. On February 27, 2014, as a senior, Konchar posted 45 points, 15 rebounds, eight assists, five steals, and five blocks in an 89–82 win over St. Charles North High School. With the performance, he became his school's all-time leading scorer, surpassing his head coach and 1983 graduate Bill Recchia. Konchar averaged 28.9 points, 14.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 3.2 steals, and 2.5 blocks per game in his senior season, earning All-Area MVP honors. Despite his high school success, he was lightly recruited, with his only

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 ...

scholarship offer coming from Chicago State. A Notre Dame assistant coach convinced

Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

( IPFW), then a joint campus of the

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

(IU) and

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...

systems, to offer him a basketball scholarship. On April 25, 2015, he committed to IPFW.

College career

During Konchar's college career, his basketball team represented two different universities and used three different athletic identities. In his freshman season, the school's athletic program was known as the IPFW Mastodons. Between his freshman and sophomore seasons, IPFW changed its athletic branding to Fort Wayne Mastodons. After his sophomore season, the IU and Purdue systems agreed to dissolve IPFW effective June 30, 2018. IPFW's degree programs in health sciences would transfer to the new Indiana University Fort Wayne, while all other IPFW degree programs, plus the IPFW athletic department, would become part of the new

Purdue University Fort Wayne Purdue University Fort Wayne (PFW) is a public university in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States. A campus of Purdue University, Purdue Fort Wayne was founded on July 1, 2018, when its predecessor university, Indiana University–Purdue Universit ...

(PFW). Shortly before the split became official, the athletic department announced that it would henceforth be known as the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons. On March 10, 2019, Konchar recorded 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in a 96–70 victory over

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...

in the

2019 Summit League tournament Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

. It was the first

triple-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

in tournament history. As a senior for Purdue Fort Wayne, Konchar averaged 19.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and two steals per game, earning first-team All-

Summit League The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States from Illinois on the East of the Mississippi River to the Dakotas and Nebraska on the W ...

honors for his fourth consecutive season. He compiled 2,065 career points and left as the program's all-time leading scorer. At the end of the season,

Tom Henry Thomas Christopher Henry
(biography), ''The Waynedale News'', September 1, 2009 (born November 8 ...

, mayor of

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

, proclaimed March 28 as "John Konchar Day."

Professional career

Memphis Grizzlies (2019–present)

After going undrafted in the

2019 NBA draft The 2019 NBA draft was held on June 20, 2019. It took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, i ...

, Konchar signed a

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless of ...

with the

. Konchar made his NBA debut on November 9, 2019 against the Dallas Mavericks. He suffered a calf strain on November 15 and was sidelined for several weeks. On November 22, 2020, the Grizzlies announced that they had re-signed Konchar to a multi-year contract. On May 11, 2021, Konchar logged a season-high 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 from three along with six rebounds and three assists in 26 minutes of play in a 133–104 win over the Dallas Mavericks. During the Grizzlies' regular season finale on April 10, 2022, Konchar recorded his first career triple-double with 17 points, ten assists and 13 rebounds in a 110–139 loss to the Boston Celtics. On July 7, 2022, Konchar signed a 3-year, $19 million contract extension with the Grizzlies. On November 18, he scored a career-high 19 points, alongside ten rebounds and two assists, in a 121–110 win over the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays i ...

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

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, 43 , , 0 , , 13.4 , , .500 , , .375 , , .833 , , 3.0 , , 1.1 , , .7 , , .2 , , 4.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 72 , , 7 , , 17.9 , , .515 , , .413 , , .551 , , 4.6 , , 1.5 , , .6 , , .3 , , 4.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 134 , , 7 , , 15.3 , , .522 , , .407 , , .654 , , 3.8 , , 1.3 , , .6 , , .3 , , 4.4

Playoffs

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, 8 , , 0 , , 7.0 , , .273 , , .167 , , 1.000 , , 2.4 , , .6 , , .4 , , .1 , , 1.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 9 , , 0 , , 6.6 , , .250 , , .143 , , 1.000 , , 2.2 , , .6 , , .3 , , .2 , , 1.0

Personal life

Konchar is of Czech and Hungarian descent; in addition, his paternal grandfather is a

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

References

External links

Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons bioJohnKonchar.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Konchar, John 1996 births Living people American men's basketball players American people of Czech descent American people of Hungarian descent American people of Serbian descent Basketball players from Chicago Memphis Grizzlies players Memphis Hustle players People from West Chicago, Illinois Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons men's basketball players Shooting guards Undrafted National Basketball Association players