John Douglas (basketball)

John David Douglas (born June 12, 1956, in Town Creek, Alabama) is an American former professional basketball player in the NBA .

A 6'2" guard, he was drafted by the National Basketball Association's New Orleans Jazz in 1978 (6th round 118th pick), after playing for Calhoun Community College and the University of Kansas Jayhawks for whom he averaged 18.9 points.

After a couple of years in the Continental Basketball Association, he finally joined the San Diego Clippers, averaging 6.7 points and 2.2 assists in 67 games.

He then moved to Europe, playing for Bologna, Italy, for several seasons alongside his brother Leon and for Reims, France.

He is now the head coach of Lawson State Community College men's basketball team.

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John Douglas’ collegiate career began at Calhoun Community College where his freshman season saw the Warhawks go 27-3 and a #3 national ranking. After two excellent seasons at Calhoun, where he still holds numerous scoring records, John transferred to the University of Kansas where his record breaking pace continued. His 46 points on the road against Iowa State in 1978 broke the legendary Wilt Chamberlain’s record for most points scored by a visiting player in the Big Eight Conference. John went on to earn All Big Eight Honors, Honorable Mention All American, Newcomer of the Year and MVP at KU.

John was drafted into the NBA by the New Orleans Jazz in 1979. He spent two years in the CBA where his team played for the championship both years under head coach George Karl. John returned to the NBA to play for the San Diego Clippers in 1981 for two years. After leaving the Clippers, John was drawn to the European Professional Leagues by his brother, Leon Douglas, who was playing in Venice, Italy. John signed with Bologna Fortitude squad for four years. He also played in Reims, France and Lugano, Switzerland.

Although his playing days are over, his true love for the game was just beginning. His enthusiasm for people, life and playing basketball naturally evolved into an eagerness to teach the game he grew up loving. He saw coaching as an opportunity to give back to the community and to help young people develop valuable life skills for a successful future while enjoying the game of basketball.

John began his coaching career as an assistant at Calhoun Community College. Before long, he moved into the lead role as head coach. Entering his 15th year as a head coach, John Douglas has proven himself to be one of the state’s best teachers of the game. He is only the second coach in the history of Alabama Junior Colleges to have coached in a National Championship game (in 2000). A three-time Coach of the Year winner, Coach Douglas was selected to be a court coach with the USA Olympic Team in 2000 after his Calhoun Community College team finished 32-4 and Runner-up in the National Junior College Tournament.

John has turned around two programs in a short period of time. When he took the job at Lawson State in 2003, he coached the team to a 46-16 record his first two years, finishing 2nd and 1st in conference play. The Lawson State Men’s Basketball Program had a record of 8-20 the year prior to his arrival. To date, he has won over 70% of his games as a head coach with three different teams and he is still looking forward to the opportunity to coach at the NCAA Division I level.

External links

• John Douglas statistics at Basketball-Reference.com
• Douglas International Scouting Service at www.douglasintl.com