After a great high school basketball career adorned with McDonald’s All-America awards, Wayne Selden Jr. demonstrated his skills in two colleges before losing his college qualification in the final year of college by signing up for the 2016 NBA Draft.
Although he was left undrafted in the draft of the year, Wayne was not discouraged and subsequently played for many teams in the big leagues, including Iowa Energy, New Orleans Pelicans, and Memphis Grizzlies. Read on to learn more about the NBA star’s journey so far.
Who Is Wayne Selden Jr?
The American basketball player was born on September 30, 1994, in Boston, Massachusetts. His father’s name is Wayne Selden Sr., while his mother’s name is Lavette Pitts. He has two siblings, a brother named Anthony Selden and Taylor Guarino-Selden, his sister.
For his education and high school career, the basketball player first went to John D. O’Bryant, where he spent his first season, but later moved to the Tilton School. In high school, he averaged 24.8 points, 10.1 rebounds, in addition to four assists in his senior year. This feat earned him the honor of McDonald’s All-America and the East Team’s second top scorer title in the McDonald’s All-American game. Upon graduation, he was ranked as a five-star player and made the jump to 14th place on the ESPN 100 rankings.
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Not only was his college career poor, but he also spent three years with the Kansas Jayhawks, where he was honored as a junior in the second team of the All-Big 12. Selden was also placed on the 35-man midseason watch list for the Naismith Trophy. In his junior season, he played 38 games, 37 of which he played for the team. He then averaged 13.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.6 assists in 29.9 minutes, scoring 47.4 percent from the field, 39.2 percent from the three-point range, and 61.2 percent from the free-throw line.
His college career was interrupted on March 29, 2016, when Wayne Selden Jr. entered the league of players who missed out on a career as a colleague. However, the boy was no longer signed on after he gave up his last year of college qualification.
His NBA Career
After failing to make the selection in the 2016 NBA Draft, Wayne Selden Jr. signed with the Memphis Grizzlies. The team relinquished him on October 22, 2016, but not before he participated in five pre-season games. A few days later he joined the Iowa Energy of the NBA Development League – a member organization of the Grizzlies. In 35 games after joining the team, Wayne averaged 18.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in 30.6 minutes.
Selden finally made his big NBA debut in March 2017 after signing a 10-day contract with the New Orleans Pelicans. In a 100:77 victory with the team over the Portland Trail Blazers, he scored two points, three rebounds, and one assist within 15 minutes. Shortly before his ten-day contract expired, Selden scored 11 points in a 128-112 win over the Houston Rockets.
After the pact with the Pelicans expired, Selden signed a multi-year contract with the Memphis Grizzlies on March 18, and on April 7, 2017, he scored a career-high of 13 points in a 101-88 win over the New York Knicks. His playoff debut, which later took place on March 15, earned him five points, three rebounds, one assist, and one steal. He started in Game 1 of the Grizzlies’ first-round match against the San Antonio Spurs.
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On July 1, 2017, Selden signed a new multi-year contract with the grizzlies. Towards the end of the year, he was assigned to the Memphis Hustle of the NBA G League but was recalled by the Grizzlies after a night playing with the team. Nonetheless, he suffered an injury that kept him off the field for the first half of the 2017-18 season. On January 20, 2018, he returned to action, scoring a career-high of 31 points in a 111-104 defeat to the New Orleans Pelicans.
In addition to his time in high school, college, and the NBA, Wayne Selden Jr. also played for his country, the United States of America, in the 2015 World University Games, a team that averaged 19.5 points and 6.5 rebounds, resulting in an 8-0 record and an 84-77 victory over Germany in the international multi-sport event.
Height, Weight, And Body Measurements
From a physical point of view, Wayne Selden Jr. has what it takes to excel in the game. His height of 6 feet 5 inches, his wingspan of 6’10, and his weight of 104 kg
The weight gives him an advantage on the court. He may not be the fastest player in action, but he has a strong frame that complements his size and helps him compete physically with his opponent.
