Marcus Jerome Sasser Jr. (born September 21, 2000) 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

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

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 ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

High school career

Sasser played basketball for Red Oak High School in

Red Oak, Texas Red Oak is a city in Ellis County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The population was 10,769 at the 2010 census, up from 4,301 at the 2000 census. The North Central Texas Council of Governments projects that ...

under the coaching of his uncle,

Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He ...

. As a senior, he was named District 14-5A most valuable player and Class 5A All-State. Sasser committed to playing college basketball for

over offers from Colorado State, SMU and

UTEP The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stu ...

College career

After struggling at first, Sasser joined Houston's starting lineup in the second half of his freshman season. On February 15, 2020, he scored a season-high 26 points in a 73–72 overtime loss to SMU. As a freshman, Sasser averaged 8.1 points and shot 35.2 percent from three-point range. He was named to the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

(AAC) All-Freshman Team. In his sophomore season debut on November 25, Sasser scored 25 points, making seven three-pointers, in an 89–45 victory over Lamar. On January 9, 2021, he scored 28 points with eight three-pointers in a 71–50 win over

Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

. As a sophomore, Sasser averaged 13.7 points and 2.6 rebounds per game, helping Houston reach the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. He was named to the Second Team All-AAC. On December 24, 2021, Sasser announced that an injury to his toe would end his 2021–22 season. At the time, he led Houston with 17.7 points per game.

Professional career

Detroit Pistons (2023–present)

Sasser was drafted 25th overall by 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 ...

in the 2023 NBA draft. On draft day, his rights were traded to the

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 30 , , 17 , , 23.8 , , .363 , , .352 , , .758 , , 2.4 , , 1.7 , , .6 , , .1 , , 8.1 , - , 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;",

, 29 , , 28 , , 31.9 , , .380 , , .335 , , .852 , , 2.6 , , 2.2 , , 1.4 , , .0 , , 13.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",

, 12 , , 12 , , 32.0 , , .437 , , .437 , , .744 , , 2.8 , , 2.6 , , 2.2 , , .1 , , 17.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2022–23 , style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , 36 , , 30.8 , , .438 , , .384 , , .848 , , 2.8 , , 3.1 , , 1.6 , , .2 , , 16.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 107 , , 93 , , 29.3 , , .406 , , .369 , , .824 , , 2.7 , , 2.4 , , 1.3 , , .1 , , 13.6

Personal life

Sasser's father, Marcus Sr., played basketball for Frank Phillips College. His uncles, Jeryl and

, were All-American college players and played in the

(NBA). Sasser's great-grandfather, John Barber, played in the NBA.

References

External links

Houston Cougars bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sasser, Marcus 2000 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Dallas Houston Cougars men's basketball players Memphis Grizzlies draft picks Shooting guards