Rudy Gay

Rudy Gay

No. 22   Memphis Grizzlies
Small Forward
Personal information
Date of birth	August 17, 1986 (1986-08-17)
Place of birth	Baltimore, Maryland
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight	230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
College	Connecticut
NBA Draft	2006 / Round: 1 / Pick: 8th overall
Selected by the Houston Rockets
Pro career	2006–present
Career history
Memphis Grizzlies (2006–present)
Career highlights and awards
NBA All-Rookie First Team (2007)
Stats at NBA.com

Rudy Carlton Gay, Jr. (born August 17, 1986 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American professional basketball player who is currently playing for the Memphis Grizzlies. He played collegiately at the University of Connecticut before turning pro.

Early life

Gay was one of five siblings and began playing competitive recreational basketball at 12 years old in the Turner Station community of Baltimore County, Maryland in one of the toughest youth basketball leagues in the area. Early exposure to Baltimore AAU basketball and summer league games in the Tom Jones Youth Summer League in Washington, D.C., showcased his abilities against top competition.^{[citation needed]}

At the age of 14, Gay began playing for the nationally-known Cecil-Kirk AAU program under Coach Anthony Lewis with other blue-chip players such as Josh Boone (UConn), Paris Carter (New Mexico State), and Chester Frazier (Illinois). During the spring of his 8th grade year, Gay and teammate Scott Dozier were highly sought after by several private schools. Gay attended Eastern Technical High School in Baltimore County, while Dozier enrolled at the St. Paul's School.^{[citation needed]} Rudy transferred to Archbishop Spalding High School of the Baltimore Catholic League after his sophomore year at Eastern Tech.^{[citation needed]}

High school career

Gay played his first two years at Baltimore County's Eastern Technical High School, a magnet school in Essex. He played varsity basketball both years. Although Eastern Tech was a Blue Ribbon academic institution, Gay's parents were concerned about his college preparation and during the summer of his sophomore year solicited help from Coach Collins who suggested several private schools in the area, including Archbishop Spalding High School. After reviewing each school's long term academic curriculum, it was decided that Gay would attend Spalding. Gay began playing for Spalding his Junior and senior years.^{[citation needed]} He was one of the top recruits entering college play after attending Archbishop Spalding High School where he earned first team All-Baltimore Catholic League honors as a junior and senior, and was also honored as the Baltimore Sun's co-player of the year. He was the Washington Post All Met Basketball Player of the Year, McDonald's All-American, and a Parade First Team All-American in his senior year after averaging 21.2 points per game, 9.2 rebounds, and 3.7 blocks.

Gay's college recruitment and decision to attend the University of Connecticut over the University of Maryland were controversial. Gay had expressed a desire to attend Maryland and said that he grew up rooting for the team, but he ultimately chose UConn. Because of the heavy involvement of an AAU coach and a high school coach, there was the appearance of impropriety, although no NCAA recruiting violations were discovered. The NCAA adopted a new scheduling rule after UConn paid $25,000 to schedule a game against the Beltway Ballers, an ad hoc AAU team that consisted of Gay's former teammates. Although it violated no standing rule at the time, media observers and Connecticut staff considered it directly connected to the recruitment. According to individuals close to Maryland head coach Gary Williams, the recruitment demonstrated that rule bending is often necessary to secure highly touted players, which Williams said he is unwilling to do, even at the expense of recruiting.

College career

Gay with his college coach Jim Calhoun

During his first season at Connecticut, Gay was a co-winner (with Jeff Green of Georgetown University) of the 2005 Big East Conference Freshman of the Year award. Gay was also named the National Freshman of the Year by The Sporting News.

In the summer of 2005, Gay was invited to play for the USA's Men's Under-21 World Championship Team. He posted one double-double while averaging 10.5 points a game and 5.5 rebounds.

Before his sophomore season began, Gay was nominated as Big East Preseason player of the year, along with Syracuse star, Gerry McNamara. After the season concluded, Gay was one of four division one college players nominated for the Naismith College Player of the Year Award (along with J. J. Redick, Adam Morrison, and Allan Ray). Also, he was a unanimous selection to the Big East's First Team. He tallied his career high in points with 28 versus Arkansas in the second game of the 2005–2006 season. Gay led the UConn Huskies to a 30–3 record, often the highest scorer, before losing to #11 seed George Mason in overtime, 86–84.

NBA career

Draft

Gay, widely regarded as one of the top future NBA prospects, announced on April 17 that he would enter the 2006 NBA Draft. He was selected with the 8th overall pick in the draft by the Houston Rockets, who then traded him and Stromile Swift to Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Shane Battier.

Memphis Grizzlies

Gay averaged 10.8 points per game to help the Grizzlies win 22 games in 2007. In 2007–2008, Gay's second season, he averaged 20.1 points and 6.2 rebounds per game; After Pau Gasol was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers during the season, he became the team's leading scorer. The Grizzlies still ended up with the same record as the previous year.

After his invitation to the 2008 Slam Dunk Contest, Gay and YouTube teamed up for the Rudy Gay Slam Dunk Contest promotion, in which he asked fans to upload footage of their best dunks for him to attempt during the contest. During the contest he performed a one handed reverse clutch dunk in the first round and during the second round teammate Mike Conley Jr. alley-ooped the ball off the bar and from behind the backboard Gay regathered and pulled off a windmill dunk. He ended with a score of 85 but did not advance to the second round. He was invited to participate in a second dunk contest during the 2009 All-Star Weekend, but was replaced by J.R. Smith due to injuries.

On December 13, 2009, Gay scored a career-high 41 points against the Miami Heat.

Medal record
Competitor for United States
FIBA World Championship
Gold	2010 Turkey	Team competition

On July 1, 2010, Gay re-signed with the Memphis Grizzlies for a contract worth $82 million over 5 years.

Statistics

2003–2004 (High School Senior)

• 21.2 Points Per Game
• 9.2 Rebounds Per Game
• 3.7 Blocks Per Game

2004–2005 (UCONN Freshman)

• 11.4 Points Per Game
• 5.4 Rebounds Per Game
• 1.5 Assists Per Game
• 1.9 Blocks Per Game

2005–2006 (UCONN Sophomore)

• 15.2 Points Per Game
• 6.4 Rebounds Per Game
• 2.1 Assists Per Game
• 1.6 Blocks Per Game

NBA career

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2006–07	Memphis	78	43	27.0	.422	.364	.727	4.5	1.3	.9	.9	10.8
2007–08	Memphis	81	81	37.0	.461	.346	.785	6.2	2.0	1.4	1.0	20.1
2008–09	Memphis	79	78	37.3	.453	.351	.767	5.5	1.7	1.2	.8	18.9
2009–10	Memphis	80	80	39.7	.466	.327	.752	5.9	1.9	1.5	.8	19.6
2010-11	Memphis	54	54	39.9	.471	.396	.805	6.2	2.8	1.7	1.1	19.8
Career		372	336	36.0	.457	.352	.768	5.6	1.9	1.3	.9	17.8

External links

• The Official Site of Rudy Gay
• Rudy Gay at NBA.com
• Rudy Gay at Basketball-Reference.com
• Rudy Gay NBA Draft Profile
• USA Basketball profile
• ESPN college profile
• Bio @ uconnhuskies.com