Jordan Caroline (born January 15, 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for Baxi Manresa of the

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

. 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

Southern Illinois Salukis The Southern Illinois Salukis are the varsity athletic teams representing Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The nickname comes from the Saluki, the Royal Dog of Egypt and the Persian greyhound, which ties into the fact that southern Illin ...

and the

Nevada Wolf Pack The Nevada Wolf Pack are the athletic teams that represent the University of Nevada, Reno. They are part of NCAA's Division I's Mountain West Conference. It was founded on October 24, 1896 with football as the Sagebrushers in Reno, Nevada. Hi ...

Early life and high school career

Caroline's maternal grandfather was

J. C. Caroline James C. Caroline (January 17, 1933 – November 17, 2017) was an American professional football player in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at the University of Illinois at Urba ...

, who was a running back for

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and led the nation in rushing as a sophomore in 1953 before playing 10 seasons for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

, primarily as a defensive back. His father,

Simeon Rice Simeon James Rice (; born February 24, 1974) is a former American football defensive end. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals third overall in the 1996 NFL Draft. In his 12-year NFL career, Rice recorded 122 sacks, forced 25 fumbles, recov ...

, was an All-America defensive end at Illinois in 1994 and 1995 and was picked third in the NFL draft and played 12 NFL seasons. His mother Jayna Caroline, was a track athlete in high school and graduated from Illinois. Growing up, Jordan never felt any pressure to play football though did dabble in the sport as well as swimming, though he focused on basketball. In middle school he played on the same AAU program, Team Trouble, as future Loyola-Chicago forward Donte Ingram. Caroline went to Bristow Middle School in Brentwood, Ca and to Edison Middle School in Champaign, IL. Caroline played two years of high school basketball for

Champaign Central High School Champaign Central High School is a high school located in Champaign, Illinois. It has 1,385 students in grades 9- 12. The principal is Joe Williams. It is part of the Champaign Unit 4 School District school system. Its sports teams are the Centr ...

before transferring to

Montverde Academy Montverde Academy is a private PK–12 school in Montverde, Florida, United States. History The school was founded in 1912 as Montgomery Industrial School. The school president was Henry P. Carpenter. It underwent a major expansion in 1921, whe ...

. Playing alongside

Ben Simmons Benjamin David Simmons (born 20 July 1996) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for one season with the LSU Tigers, after which he was ...

and

D'Angelo Russell D'Angelo Danté Russell (born February 23, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected as a McDonald's All-American in 2014 and played college ba ...

, Caroline helped the team to back-to-back national titles in 2013 and 2014.

College career

Caroline was named to the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest. History The MVC was established ...

All-Freshman Team at

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of the Upland South than the Mi ...

. He averaged 9.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game as a freshman. After the season, decided to transfer and received scholarship offers from

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, Xavier and

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

before picking

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. Caroline was named Most Outstanding Player of the South Point Holiday Hoops Classic in December 2016 after contributing 20 points and 12 rebounds in a 67–66 win over

UC Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

. Caroline earned Second-team All-

Mountain West The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...

and Mountain West tournament MVP honors his sophomore season in leading Nevada to a tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth. He averaged 15.0 points and 9.2 rebounds per game as a sophomore. Coming into his junior season, Caroline was named to the Preseason All-Conference Team. As a junior, he averaged 17.7 points and a Pack-leading 8.6 rebounds per game while shooting 47.4 percent from the field. Caroline was a first-team All-Mountain West selection by the conference coaches and media, first-team NABC District 17 and a USBWA District VIII selection. He was named to the Mountain West All-Tournament Team and led the Wolf Pack to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 after comeback wins over

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and Cincinnati. Caroline tested the waters of the

2018 NBA draft The 2018 NBA Draft was held on June 21, 2018, 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, including inte ...

, but ultimately opted to return to Nevada for his senior season. Coming into his senior season, Caroline was named to the Preseason MWC Team. On March 2, 2019, Caroline scored his 2,000th career point in a loss to

Utah State Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

. He punched a glass fire extinguisher near the locker room after the game as part of a fracas in the handshake line. Caroline finished his senior season averaging 17.0 points per game, 9.6 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game despite straining his Achilles late in the season. Caroline also broke the Mountain West record for the most double doubles in a career previously held by Utah's

Andrew Bogut Andrew Michael Bogut (born 28 November 1984) is an Australian former basketball player who spent the majority of his professional career playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The tall center was selected by the Milwaukee Buck ...

Professional career

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 ...

, Caroline joined the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

for the 2019 NBA Summer League. He signed with the Lakers on July 20, but was waived on October 4 after undergoing surgery on his foot in September. He subsequently joined the Lakers'

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

affiliate, the

South Bay Lakers The South Bay Lakers are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Los Angeles. Founded in 2006 as the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the team is owned by the Los Angeles Lakers, who were the first National Basketball Associa ...

. On January 3, 2020, he scored a season-high 20 points in a loss to the

Sioux Falls Skyforce The Sioux Falls Skyforce are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and are affiliated with the Miami Heat. The team plays their home games in the Sanford Pentagon, a place they have call ...

. Caroline had a groin injury in January and missed the remainder of the G League season. He averaged 11.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game. On May 15, 2020, Caroline signed with Hapoel Eilat of the

Israeli Basketball Premier League Ligat HaAl ( he, ליגת העל, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is the top-tier level league of professional sports, professional competition in Israeli sports club, club basketball, making ...

. He averaged 15.3 points and 9.9 rebounds per game during their resumed 2019–20 season following the league's COVID suspension. On March 7, 2021, Caroline signed with Kaohsiung Jeoutai Technology of the

Super Basketball League The Super Basketball League (超級籃球聯賽), often abbreviated as the SBL, is a semi-professional men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Taiwan. Current clubs Currently, there are four teams competing in the SBL. They are ...

. On June 30, 2021, Caroline signed with Dolomiti Energia Trento of the Italian

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier le ...

(LBA). On August 4, 2022, Caroline signed with

Melbourne United Melbourne United is an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. United compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at John Cain Arena. The team made their debut in the NBL in 1984 as ...

in Australia for the

2022–23 NBL season The 2022–23 NBL season was the 45th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of ten teams contested in the 2022–23 season. Australian broadcast rights to the season are held by ESPN in the second sea ...

. He was released by United on November 16, 2022. On November 17, 2022, he signed with Baxi Manresa of the

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 32 , , 25.6 , , .448 , , .667 , , .660 , , 6.2 , , .9 , , .7 , , .2 , , 9.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:center;" colspan="11",

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

, 35 , , 34 , , 35.1 , , .463 , , .337 , , .590 , , 9.2 , , 1.9 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , 15.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, 37 , , 36 , , 34.9 , , .474 , , .324 , , .709 , , 8.6 , , 2.2 , , .7 , , .2 , , 17.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 33 , , 35.5 , , .452 , , .368 , , .628 , , 9.6 , , 1.9 , , .6 , , .3 , , 17.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 138 , , 135 , , 32.9 , , .461 , , .348 , , .646 , , 8.4 , , 1.8 , , .8 , , .3 , , 14.8

References

External links

Nevada Wolf Pack bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caroline, Jordan 1996 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Australia American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Taiwan American men's basketball players Aquila Basket Trento players Basketball players from Illinois Bàsquet Manresa players Jeoutai Technology basketball players Melbourne United players Montverde Academy alumni Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball players Small forwards Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball players Sportspeople from Champaign, Illinois Super Basketball League imports