Jason Conley (born July 21, 1981) is an American retired professional basketball player who last played for the Helsinki Seagulls in Finland in 2017. A shooting guard and

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular c ...

, Conley is best known for being the first

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. A ...

to ever lead

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

Division I in scoring.

Early life

Jason Conley was born in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, and attended Montrose Christian School in Rockville, a perennial national high school basketball power that has sent many players to the Division I and professional levels. He did not catch many college basketball recruiters' attention, but

Virginia Military Institute la, Consilio et Animis (on seal) , mottoeng = "In peace a glorious asset, In war a tower of strength""By courage and wisdom" (on seal) , established = , type = Public senior military college , accreditation = SACS , endowment = $696.8 mill ...

, a small Division I university located in Lexington,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

offered him a scholarship.

College

VMI

Conley is

dyslexic Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...

and failed to attain the minimum SAT entrance exam score to be eligible to play college basketball right after high school. To try to help him qualify, he spent one year at a postgraduate school called Millersburg (Ky.) Military Institute, but Conley still fell short of his SAT requirement. As a partial qualifier, he sat out one year at VMI but did not lose a year of eligibility. When Conley's college basketball career finally started in 2001, two full years after his high school graduation in 1999, he burst onto the national scene. As a freshman, Conley started all 28 games, averaged 29.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.9 steals per game while shooting 46.7% from the field and 81.8% from the

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...

line. He had some of his best games against top-tier competition: 24 points against

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 Virgini ...

, 25 against

and even 38 against Villanova. When the 2001–02 season had come to a close, Conley's 29.3 ppg average made him the first

ever to win the national scoring title. He was named the Co-Southern Conference Player of the Year with Dimeco Childress of

East Tennessee East Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. Geographically and socioculturally distinct, it comprises approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee. East Tennessee consists of 33 coun ...

. Conley followed up an historical freshman campaign at VMI with a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educati ...

season that saw him transfer to

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

after the first semester had ended. At the time, Conley played in 10 games and was averaging 22.2 ppg with VMI. Since he transferred midway through an academic year, he only had to sit out the spring semester at Missouri before he was eligible to suit up for the Tigers the following year.

Missouri

As a junior in 2003–04, Conley was selected to the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...

All-Newcomer and All-Reserve Teams. He averaged 7.6 points and 3.4 rebounds in 18.2 minutes per game, and scored a season-high 24 points in a win over Baylor. As a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

in 2004–05, Conley's role on Missouri increased as he averaged 10.2 points and 5.9 rebounds in a career-high 33 games played. Although neither of his seasons at Missouri matched what he accomplished at Virginia Military Institute, he still finished his college basketball career with 1,567 points and 557 rebounds.

Professional

The closest Conley came to making a

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, 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 i ...

(NBA) roster was participating for the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

' summer league team in 2005. He was signed to play for

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

Telekom Baskets Bonn Telekom Baskets Bonn, also known as Baskets Bonn, is a German professional basketball club that is based in Bonn, Germany. The club plays in the Basketball Bundesliga, which is the highest level pro basketball league in Germany. The club's spon ...

in 2005, a team he stayed with through 2007–08. He followed this with one-month stints for

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

's Porvoon Tarmo (February 2009) and Namika Lahti (March 2009). In 2009–10, Conley signed with WBC Kraftwerk Wels of the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n A Bundesliga.

References

External links

Finnish League profileCareer college statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conley, Jason 1981 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Austria American expatriate basketball people in Finland American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Romania American men's basketball players Basketball players from Maryland Basketball players from San Antonio Flyers Wels players Helsinki Seagulls players Kataja BC players Kouvot players Missouri Tigers men's basketball players Namika Lahti players Sportspeople with dyslexia People from Chevy Chase, Maryland Shooting guards Small forwards Sportspeople from Rockville, Maryland Telekom Baskets Bonn players VMI Keydets basketball players