James Blackmon Jr. (born April 25, 1995) is an American

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 who last played for

Pınar Karşıyaka Pınar is a common feminine Turkish given name. In Turkish, "Pınar" means "Spring" (of water), and/or "Fountain". Notable people called Pınar include: Given name * Pinar Heggernes (born 1969), Turkish-born Norwegian computer scientist * Pına ...

of the

Basketbol Süper Ligi The Basketball Super League ( tr, Basketbol Süper Ligi; BSL), also known as the Türkiye Sigorta Basketbol Süper Ligi for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's professional basketball division of the Turkish basketball league system. It replace ...

(BSL). 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

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Ath ...

High school career

Blackmon played three years at Bishop Luers High School and his senior year at Marion High School. In his senior season, he averaged 33.4 points and 4.2 three-pointers (47%), and broke his father's school record by scoring 54 points in a game. He ranks #9 on Indiana's all-time scoring list. He was ranked the 20th best player in the class by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

and was recruited heavily by

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

, and

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

. He originally committed to Indiana before his freshman season, but reopened his recruitment before his senior season. His final verbal commitment to Indiana was televised live on ESPNU. He scored 13 points in the McDonald's All-American Game and won the three-point contest. He also scored 23 in the

Jordan Brand Classic The Jordan Brand Classic is a high school All-Star basketball game played annually in April. The game's rosters feature the best and most highly recruited high school boys in the senior class including alumns like Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Bl ...

. He finished third in Indiana Mr. Basketball voting, behind

Trey Lyles Trey Anthony Lyles (born November 5, 1995) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted by the Utah Jazz following his freshman season at the University of Kent ...

and

Trevon Bluiett Trevon Nykee Bluiett (; born November 5, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for MKS Dąbrowa Górnicza of the Polish Basketball League. He played college basketball for the Xavier Musketeers. High school career Bluiett attended ...

College career

Freshman year

During Indiana's five-game preseason Canada trip, Blackmon led the team in scoring with 18.8 points, despite focusing mainly on his defense. As a freshman, he earned the starting spot in the backcourt alongside

Yogi Ferrell Kevin Duane "Yogi" Ferrell Jr. (born May 9, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for Cedevita Olimpija of the ABA League. He played college basketball at Indiana University. Early life Ferrell was ranked the number one player in h ...

. He averaged 15.7 points per game, the sixth best average for any freshman in the country. He ranked second on the team in both scoring and rebounding (5.3). Blackmon was a prolific three-point shooter, breaking

Eric Gordon Eric Ambrose Gordon Jr. (born December 25, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). In high school, he was named "Mr. Basketball" of Indiana during his senior yea ...

's Indiana freshman record with 77 three-point field goals made. He earned Honorable Mention All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

, a unanimous spot on the Big Ten All-Freshman team and was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week twice.

Sophomore year

Blackmon Jr. had a strong first two months, setting career-highs in field goal percentage (.480) and three-point field goal percentage (.463), until a right knee injury ended his season. Blackmon underwent surgery in January 2016, his second knee surgery in a span of just six months – he had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his other knee before the season. He finished his sophomore campaign averaging 15.8 points in just thirteen total games. Indiana went 15–3 in the Big Ten season in his absence, winning an outright league title in the process.

Junior year

On November 14, 2016, Blackmon Jr. was named National Player of the Week by

NBCSports.com NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its ...

and Big Ten Co-Player of the Week. He averaged 17.3 points per game on a team that went 19–16. After the end of his junior year, he decided to enter the

2017 NBA draft The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. ...

College statistics

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 33 , , 30.0 , , .420 , , .387 , , .806 , , 5.3 , , 1.5 , , 0.6 , , .1 , , 15.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;",

, 13 , , 12 , , 24.5 , , .480 , , .463 , , .852 , , 4.2 , , 1.7 , , 1.2 , , .4 , , 15.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

, 30 , , 30 , , 30.5 , , .477 , , .423 , , .837 , , 4.8 , , 1.9 , , .7 , , .0 , , 17.0 , - , align="center" colspan="2", Career , 76 , , 75 , , 29.3 , , .452 , , .415 , , .824 , , 4.9 , , 1.7 , , 0.8 , , .1 , , 16.3 , - Source:

Professional career

Blackmon signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

with the Philadelphia 76ers on June 23, 2017. After some successful performances with the team during the

2017 NBA Summer League The 2017 NBA Summer League consisted of three pro basketball leagues organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA): the Orlando Pro Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas Summer League. Eight teams participated in the wee ...

, he signed a training camp contract with them on August 30 that same year. He was waived in the preseason on October 14, 2017. On January 26, 2018, Blackmon was traded by the

Delaware 87ers Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

to the

Wisconsin Herd The Wisconsin Herd are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and are affiliated with the Milwaukee Bucks. The Herd play their home games at Oshkosh Arena. History On June 29, 2016, it was annou ...

in exchange for

Shannon Brown Shannon Brown (born November 29, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player. He attended Proviso East High School in Maywood, Illinois, was named Illinois Mr. Basketball in 2003, and played college basketball for Michigan State ...

and Cameron Oliver. He signed with VL Pesaro of the

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier ...

on August 6, 2018. On July 19, 2019, he has signed with Aquila Basket Trento of the Italian

(LBA). On October 23, 2020, short after the beginning of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

, he signed a one year contract with Beşiktaş in the

Turkish League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

and

Basketball Champions League The Basketball Champions League (BCL) is an annual professional basketball competition for European clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the top-level competition organised by FIBA Europe, therefore the champion participates in the FIBA Intercont ...

. On July 8, 2021, he has signed with

of the

Turkish Super League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities an ...

(BSL).

Family

Blackmon's father, James Blackmon Sr., was drafted into the NBA after an outstanding career at Kentucky. . He now coaches at Marion. His father is of

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

descent, while his mother Sailaja is of

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

descent. Blackmon has two brothers: Vijay, who was a walk-on for the

Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball The Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team represents Indiana University Bloomington in NCAA Division I college basketball and competes in the Big Ten Conference. The Hoosiers play at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on the Branch McCracken Court in ...

basketball team, and now is a member of the Lindenwood University men's basketball team, and Jalen, who plays for Grand Canyon University.

References

External links

Indiana Hoosiers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackmon, James Jr. 1995 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportspeople African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players American sportspeople of Indian descent Aquila Basket Trento players Basketball players from Fort Wayne, Indiana Beşiktaş men's basketball players Delaware 87ers players Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball players Karşıyaka basketball players Lega Basket Serie A players McDonald's High School All-Americans Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from Marion, Indiana Shooting guards Victoria Libertas Pallacanestro players Wisconsin Herd players