Morris Almond (born February 2, 1985) is an American former 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. Almond is the founder of Almond Athletics. His last professional appearance would be for the

Los Angeles D-Fenders LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significance ...

of the

NBA Development 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 ...

(D-League).

High school

Almond was born in

Dalton, Georgia Dalton is a city and the county seat of Whitfield County, Georgia, United States. It is also the principal city of the Dalton Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Murray and Whitfield counties. As of the 2010 census, the ci ...

and attended

McEachern High School John McEachern High School or McEachern High School is a public high school established in 1908 in Powder Springs, Georgia, United States. It was originally established as the Seventh District Agricultural and Mechanical School. Due to its hist ...

Powder Springs, Georgia Powder Springs is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, Cobb County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The population was 13,940 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, with an estimated population for 2019 of 15,758. In 2015, the cit ...

, where he was a teammate of fellow professional basketball player

Josh Smith Joshua Smith (born December 5, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player who played 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Entering the NBA straight out of high school, Smith played nine seasons with the Atlant ...

. Almond was the first basketball player in McEachern school history to have his #22 jersey retired.

College career

Almond played college basketball at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

, where he was a member of Martel residential college. During his junior season, Almond's scoring average jumped to 21.9 points per game (up from 7.2 points per game as a sophomore). His scoring average led all players in

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

. During his senior year, Almond's scoring average increased to 26.4 points per game, ranking third in the nation. He was named Conference USA Player of the Year and was named AP All-America Honorable Mention. Almond finished his career at Rice with 121 games played and a scoring average of 15.1 points per game. He was also the first Rice basketball player to appear on the cover of a national publication. After graduation, he was selected by the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

in the first round (25th pick) in the 2007 NBA Draft.

Professional career

Almond played in 9 games during his rookie season with the Jazz, averaging 4.3 minutes. His NBA career high is currently 12 points, at

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

on December 2, 2008. He scored his first NBA points on January 8, 2008 against the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

, with 2 points on 1-of-5 shooting. However, he spent most of the season with the team's

D-League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...

affiliate, the

Utah Flash Orem, Utah Orem Orem, Utah Orem is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States, in the northern part of the state. It is adjacent to Provo, Lindon, and Vineyard and is approximately south of Salt Lake City. Orem is one of the principal ...

, to whom he was assigned. He led the D-League in scoring during the season, averaging 25.6 points per game. In just his fifth game with the team on December 21, 2007, he tied a league record with 51 points in a 118–116 victory over the

Austin Toros Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. Later in the season, he broke the record with a 53-point performance against the

Bakersfield Jam Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

in a 102–87 win. The record was tied by

Will Conroy William James Conroy (born December 8, 1982) is an American professional basketball player and coach. Amateur career Conroy attended and played competitively at Garfield High School in Seattle, and played college basketball at the University of ...

in 2009 and surpassed by

Pierre Jackson Pierre Deshawn Jackson (born August 29, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for the College of Southern Idaho and Baylor Univ ...

in 2014 (58). On September 18, 2009, Morris Almond signed with the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...

. He was waived on October 21, 2009. Almond later played for the

Maine Red Claws The Maine Celtics (formerly the Maine Red Claws) are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Portland, Maine, and are affiliated with the Boston Celtics. The Maine Celtics play their home games at the Portland Expo B ...

and

Springfield Armor Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queensl ...

of the NBA Development League. He then signed with

Real Madrid Baloncesto Real Madrid Baloncesto (English: Real Madrid Basketball) is a Spanish professional basketball team that was founded in 1931, as a division of the Real Madrid CF multi sports club. They play domestically in the Liga ACB, and internationally i ...

of the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

ACB. In July 2010 he left Real Madrid and joined the Italian club

Scavolini Pesaro Victoria Libertas (also known as "VL" or in Italian ''Vuelle''), full name Unione Sportiva Victoria Libertas Pallacanestro, is a professional basketball team that is based in Pesaro, Italy. The club competes in the top level Italian professiona ...

. In January 2012, Almond returned to the United States and signed with the Maine Red Claws for the second time. On the 16th of April 2012, the Washington Wizards announced they would be signing Almond to contract for the rest of the 2011–12 season. At the end of the 2011–2012 season he was selected to the All NBA D-League Third Team after averaging 23.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game for the Red Claws. Almond briefly played for

Crvena zvezda Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in B ...

during the 2012–13 season. He then returned to the Maine Red Claws, who traded him to the

Iowa Energy Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

. On January 30, 2013, he and Mike Taylor were traded to the

in exchange for Jarrid Famous.

Post-professional career

Almond has since retired from professional basketball. He formed Almond Athletics, a non-profit organization, in 2013.About Us , Almond Athletics
/ref>

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, 9 , , 0 , , 4.3 , , .267 , , .250 , , .667 , , .2 , , .3 , , .1 , , .0 , , 1.4 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

, 25 , , 1 , , 10.2 , , .407 , , .294 , , .808 , , 1.4 , , .3 , , .2 , , .2 , , 3.7 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

, 4 , , 0 , , 16.8 , , .353 , , .333 , , .333 , , 2.0 , , .5 , , 1.8 , , .0 , , 3.5 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , , 38 , , 1 , , 9.5 , , .381 , , .292 , , .743 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , .3 , , .1 , , 3.1

Notes

External links

*
Official Rice bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Almond, Morris 1985 births Living people ABA League players American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Serbia American expatriate basketball people in Spain American expatriate basketball people in Ukraine American men's basketball players Basketball players from Georgia (U.S. state) BC Cherkaski Mavpy players Iowa Energy players KK Crvena zvezda players Liga ACB players Los Angeles D-Fenders players Maine Red Claws players People from Dalton, Georgia Real Madrid Baloncesto players Rice Owls men's basketball players Shooting guards Springfield Armor players Utah Flash players Utah Jazz draft picks Utah Jazz players Victoria Libertas Pesaro players Washington Wizards players