Jordan Timothy Heading (born January 30, 1996) is a Filipino basketball player for West Adelaide Bearcats of the

NBL1 NBL1 is a semi-professional basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Australia, consisting of NBL1 South, South, NBL1 North, North, NBL1 Central, Central, NBL1 West, West and NBL1 East, East Conferences with both men's and women's compet ...

Early life and education

Jordan Heading was born on January 30, 1996 in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

to an Australian father and a Filipino mother. He attended the

Morrison Academy Morrison Academy () is an international Christian school founded 1952 in Taichung, Taiwan. It primarily caters to the children of missionaries. Beyond the original Taichung location it also maintains a campus in Taipei and Morrison Academy Kaoh ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

for his high school studies, before going to the United States, to enter the

California Baptist University California Baptist University (Cal Baptist or CBU) is a private Christian university in Riverside, California. Founded in 1950 as California Baptist College, it is affiliated with the California Southern Baptist Convention, an organization affil ...

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

to pursue a degree in kinesiology.

College career

Heading played for the

(CBU) Lancers in college as a starting point guard. He was named a member of the Academic All-Pacific West five team.

Professional career

San Miguel Alab Pilipinas (2019–2020)

Heading started his professional career with

San Miguel Alab Pilipinas San Miguel Alab Pilipinas (under the corporate name Pilipinas Basketball Club, Inc. or PBCI) is a Filipino professional basketball team which played in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) under the sponsorship of San Miguel Corporation. The team i ...

of the

ASEAN Basketball League The ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) is a professional men's basketball league in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong/Macau, which includes six teams from Southeast Asian nations (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam), one tea ...

joining the team in October 2019. The

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

led to the cancellation of the 2019–20 season, consequentially also ending his stint with Alab. In the Season 46 draft of the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

(PBA) in March 2021, Heading was selected by the

Terrafirma Dyip The Terrafirma Dyip is a professional basketball team playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The team is owned by Terrafirma Realty Development Corporation and originally played under its affiliate company Columbian Autocar Cor ...

as the top pick for the special Gilas Pilipinas draft. He was to be loaned to the Philippine national team before he could suit up for Terrafirma. He would join the

Taichung Wagor Suns The Taichung Suns ( zh, 臺中太陽) are a Taiwanese professional basketball team based in Taichung City, Taiwan. They compete in the T1 League since the 2021–22 season, and play their home game at the National Taiwan University of Sport Gymna ...

in October 2022. This raised some concern with Heading's contract with the

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas () or the SBP is the national sport association for basketball in the Philippines, formed from the merging of the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) and Pilipinas Basketball (PB). It was formed ...

, the Philippine basketball federation, which was supposed to be active until March 2023 arising from his involvement in the special PBA draft.

Taichung Wagor Suns (2021–2022)

Heading went on to play for Taichung Wagor Suns. Heading's stint with the Suns covered its 2021–22 season, the Suns' first in the

T1 League The T1 League is a Taiwanese men's professional basketball league founded in 2021. It is the third professional basketball league in Taiwan after the Chinese Basketball Alliance (CBA) and the P. League+ (PLG). In the 2022–23 season, the T ...

of Taiwan. The team finished as runners-up for that season.

Nagasaki Velca (2022–2023)

On July 1, 2022, he joined the Nagasaki Velca which competes in the 2nd division of Japan's

B.League The B.League is a professional men's basketball league that began in Japan in September 2016. The league is operated by the Japan Professional Basketball League and was formed as a result of a merger between the National Basketball League that w ...

. He was released by the team on 6 June 2023.

National team career

Heading has played for the Philippine national team. Having obtained his

Philippine passport A Philippine passport is both a travel document and a primary national identity document issued to citizens of the Philippines. It is issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs (Philippines), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Philippine ...

before the age of 16, Heading is eligible to play for the Philippines as a local player under

FIBA eligibility rules As the governing body of basketball, FIBA is responsible for maintaining and implementing the rules that determine whether a basketball player is eligible to represent a particular country in officially recognized international competitions. Any pl ...

despite him being born outside the Philippines and having non-Filipino heritage. He has played in the Philippine national youth system, having taken part in the

2011 FIBA Asia Under-16 Championship The 2011 FIBA Asia Under-16 Championship was the qualifying tournament for FIBA Asia at the Under-17 World Championship 2012. The tournament was held in Nha Trang, Vietnam from October 18 to October 28. China defeated Korea in the championship to ...

in Vietnam. Heading was part of the Philippine senior team which took part in the Belgrade tournament of the 2020 FIBA Men's Olympic Qualifiers. Heading would be committed to the senior national team when he got picked by the

in the special Gilas Pilipinas draft of the March 2021 PBA draft. However contractual issues arose when he joined the Taichun Suns in October 2021. The issue would be resolved and Heading would return to play for the Philippines in the February 2023 window of the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup Asia qualifier. Heading was included in the 21-man pool for the

2023 FIBA World Cup The 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup will be the 19th tournament of the FIBA Basketball World Cup for men's national basketball teams. The tournament will be the second to feature 32 teams. For the first time in its history, the World Cup will be h ...

. He was eventually ruled out due to injury.

Personal life

Heading is married to Lauren, an American professional volleyball player since 2019. They first met each other at California Baptist University where they both studied.

Notes

References

External links

California Baptist Lancers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heading, Jordan 1996 births Living people Australian expatriate basketball people in Japan Australian expatriate basketball people in Taiwan Australian expatriate basketball people in the United States Australian men's basketball players Australian people of Filipino descent California Baptist Lancers men's basketball players Filipino expatriate basketball people in Japan Filipino expatriate basketball people in Taiwan Filipino expatriate basketball people in the United States Filipino men's 3x3 basketball players Filipino men's basketball players Philippines men's national basketball team players Nagasaki Velca players Shooting guards Basketball players from Adelaide Taichung Suns players T1 League Asian imports Terrafirma Dyip draft picks Sportsmen from South Australia