Abdul Qadir Jeelani (born Gary Cole; February 10, 1954 – August 3, 2016) was 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. Born in

Bells, Tennessee Bells is a city in Crockett County, Tennessee. The population was 2,437 at the 2010 census. History Bells was established in the late 1820s on land acquired by brothers John and William Bell. When a city was founded on this land in 1855, it was g ...

, he was a 6'8" and 210 lb

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger t ...

and played college basketball at the

University of Wisconsin–Parkside The University of Wisconsin–Parkside (UWP) is a public university in Somers, Wisconsin. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System and has 4,644 students, 161 full-time faculty, and 89 lecturers and part-time faculty. The university of ...

. He had a brief career in 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 S ...

(NBA).

College career

Jeelani is University of Wisconsin–Parkside's career leader in points scored (2,262) and rebounds (1,237) and he holds records in the top four of seven other single-game, single-season and career statistical categories.University of Wisconsin Parkside Athletics – Hall of Fame Members
/ref> He twice scored 47 points in a game, one of the top records for a single game scoring performance. He was a member of two NAIA National Tournament teams in 1974 and 1975 and was named an NAIA All-American in 1975 and 1976. He attended

Washington Park High School Washington Park High School (also known as Park or Racine Park High School) is a public, four-year high school in Racine, Wisconsin, USA, with an enrollment of over 2,400 students. Its school colors are blue and orange. The school's mascot, the Cou ...

Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River. Racine is situated 22 miles (35 km) south of Milwaukee and approximately 60 ...

Professional career

Jeelani was drafted on June 8, 1976, by the NBA's

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

in the third round of the 1976 draft, and he was waived in October of that year. Later he was signed by 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 Li ...

on September 2, 1977, but was again waived a month later, prior to the start of the 1977–78 season. He played one season with the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

in 1979–80 and was made available in the

expansion draft An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or franchises. This occurs mainly in North American sports. One of the ways of stocking the new team or teams is an expansion ...

on May 28, 1980, where he was taken by the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...

prior to their inaugural season in 1980–81. He was part of the

starting lineup In sports, a starting lineup is an official list of the set of players who will participate in the event when the game begins. The players in the starting lineup are commonly referred to as ''starters'', whereas the others are ''substitutes'' o ...

for the Mavericks' first NBA game in 1980 and scored the first points in franchise history.MAVERICKS: Mavs History
In his first season with the Mavs, he seemed to have a knack for scoring in the final quarter of games. As of January 20, 1981, when he had played 43 games, 142 of his 350 points had come in the last period. Jeelani also had a career overseas playing in Italy, in Lazio Basket and Libertas Livorno and Spain.

Personal life

Jeelani became interested in

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

as a college student. He formally converted and changed his name in 1976. Jeelani died on August 3, 2016, at Wheaton Franciscan All-Saints hospital in Racine.

Notes

External links

NBA stats
at basketball-reference.com
Photo of Abdul Jeelani playing for the Dallas Mavericks
at mavswiki.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Jeelani, Abdul 1954 births 2016 deaths African-American Muslims American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Askatuak SBT players Basketball players from Tennessee Basketball players from Wisconsin Real Betis Baloncesto players Cleveland Cavaliers draft picks Converts to Islam Dallas Mavericks expansion draft picks Dallas Mavericks players Liga ACB players People from Crockett County, Tennessee Portland Trail Blazers players Saski Baskonia players Small forwards Sportspeople from Racine, Wisconsin Wisconsin–Parkside Rangers men's basketball players 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people Muslims from Tennessee Muslims from Wisconsin