Tyson Malik Jolly (born August 10, 1997) 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 who is currently a free agent. 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

Iona Gaels The Iona Gaels are the athletics teams of Iona University, in New Rochelle, New York. They compete in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and participate in 21 NCAA Division I programs. Varsity athletic programs Men's basketball I ...

of the

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC, ) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Of its current 11 full members, 10 are located in three states of the northeastern United States: Connecticut, New Jersey, and N ...

(MAAC). He previously played for the

Baylor Bears The Baylor Bears are the athletic teams that represent Baylor University. The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as one of only two private school members of the Big 12 Conference. Prior to j ...

, the Trinity Valley CC Cardinals, and the

SMU Mustangs The SMU Mustangs are the athletic teams that represent Southern Methodist University in University Park, Texas, United States. The Mustangs were founded in 1911 and joined the Southwest Conference, competing against Baylor, Rice, Texas, Texa ...

High school career

Jolly attended

Putnam City West High School Putnam City West High School is a public 9–12 grade school in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It is part of the Putnam City Public Schools District. The school serves portions of suburban Oklahoma City as well as portions of Bethany and Warr Acres, an ...

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

. In late December 2013 during his junior season, he coughed up blood after a tournament and began receiving treatment for

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

. After his coughing continued and he collapsed in his school hallway in February 2014, Jolly was diagnosed with

pulmonary embolism Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an pulmonary artery, artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream (embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include dyspnea, shortness of breath, chest pain p ...

, causing him to miss the remainder of the season. He underwent a procedure to remove

blood clots A thrombus (plural thrombi), colloquially called a blood clot, is the final product of the blood coagulation step in hemostasis. There are two components to a thrombus: aggregated platelets and red blood cells that form a plug, and a mesh of cr ...

in his lungs and lost over 15 lbs (6.8 kg) due to the condition. As a senior, he averaged 20.2 points, 9.1 rebounds and three assists per game, leading his team to the Class 6A state semifinals. He was named ''

The Oklahoman ''The Oklahoman'' is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circulation) lists it as the 59th larges ...

'' Big All-City Player of the Year. Jolly initially committed to playing college basketball for

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

but attended Elev8 Sports Institute in

Delray Beach, Florida Delray Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population of Delray Beach as of April 1, 2020 was 66,846 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 United States Census. Located 52 miles ...

for a

postgraduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and stru ...

year because he did not meet the academic credit requirement. He decommitted from California and instead chose to play for Baylor. He was considered a four-star

recruit __NOTOC__ Recruit can refer to: Military * Military recruitment * Recruit training, in the military * '' Rekrut'' (English: Recruit), a military recruit or low rank in German-speaking countries * Seaman recruit Books *''Le Réquisitionnaire'' (E ...

College career

Jolly

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

his first season at Baylor and received limited playing time as a redshirt freshman, averaging 1.4 points and 1.8 rebounds per game and shooting 20.9 percent from the field. After the season, he transferred to

Trinity Valley Community College Trinity Valley Community College (TVCC) is a public community college based in Athens, Texas. It has four campuses serving five counties across the southeast and eastern parts of the state. About TVCC operates four campuses serving the Texas co ...

. On November 8, 2018, Jolly recorded a sophomore season-high 45 points and 15 rebounds in an 87–82 win over Missouri State–West Plains. As a sophomore, he averaged 22.6 points, 12.5 rebounds and four assists per game, leading the nation in rebounding. Jolly was a First Team

National Junior College Athletic Association The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

(NJCAA) Division I All-American and earned NJCAA Region XIV Player of the Year accolades. He was named MVP of the Region XIV Tournament. Jolly was considered the third-best

junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

recruit and joined SMU for his junior season. On January 18, 2020, he posted a season-high 25 points, including 22 in the second half, and 14 rebounds in a 68–52 victory over

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

. As a junior, Jolly averaged 14.5 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, shooting a team-high 38 percent from three-point range. He earned Third Team All-

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) honors. Prior to his senior season, Jolly stopped practicing with the team and did not join them for the first six weeks due to personal reasons. He made his season debut on January 23, 2021. As a senior, Jolly played eight games, averaging 9.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. After the season, he transferred to

Iona Iona (; gd, Ì Chaluim Chille (IPA: �iːˈxaɫ̪ɯimˈçiʎə, sometimes simply ''Ì''; sco, Iona) is a small island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though there ...

. On November 25, 2021, Jolly scored 13 points in a 72–68 upset of tenth ranked-

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, the first ever win against an AP Top-10 by a

(MAAC) opponent. At the close of the 2021–22 season, Jolly was named the MAAC Player of the Year.

Professional career

Greensboro Swarm

After going undrafted in the

2022 NBA draft The 2022 NBA draft (branded as the 2022 NBA Draft presented by State Farm for sponsorship reasons), the 76th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on June 23, 2022, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The ...

, Jolly joined the

Greensboro Swarm The Greensboro Swarm are an American basketball team of the NBA G League based in Greensboro, North Carolina, and are affiliated with the Charlotte Hornets. The Swarm play their home games at the Greensboro Coliseum Fieldhouse. The team became ...

training camp roster. However, he did not make the final roster.

Career statistics

College

NCAA Division I

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;", Baylor , style="text-align:center;" colspan="11",

Redshirt , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;", Baylor , 20 , , 0 , , 8.9 , , .209 , , .105 , , .700 , , 1.8 , , .9 , , .2 , , .3 , , 1.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;", SMU , 30 , , 30 , , 34.9 , , .458 , , .382 , , .780 , , 6.2 , , 2.3 , , .7 , , .5 , , 14.5 , - , 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;", SMU , 8 , , 1 , , 24.4 , , .431 , , .391 , , .600 , , 4.8 , , .8 , , .3 , , .5 , , 9.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 33 , , 33.8 , , .436 , , .374 , , .699 , , 4.8 , , 2.3 , , .7 , , .8 , , 14.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 91 , , 64 , , 27.9 , , .432 , , .362 , , .724 , , 4.6 , , 1.9 , , .6 , , .5 , , 11.2

JUCO

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;", Trinity Valley CC , 36 , , 36 , , – , , .506 , , .351 , , .781 , , 12.5 , , 4.0 , , 1.6 , , 1.5 , , 22.6

Personal life

Jolly is the son of Neoshia Jolly.

References

External links

Iona Gaels bioSMU Mustangs bioTrinity Valley CC Cardinals bioBaylor Bears bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jolly, Tyson 1997 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportspeople American men's basketball players Basketball players from Oklahoma Baylor Bears men's basketball players Iona Gaels men's basketball players Shooting guards SMU Mustangs men's basketball players Sportspeople from Muskogee, Oklahoma Trinity Valley Cardinals men's basketball players