Ibrahim Jaaber

Ibrahim Jaaber (born February 3, 1984) is an American-born naturalized Bulgarian former professional basketball player. At 1.88 m (6'2") in height, he played at both the point guard and shooting guard positions. He also played for the senior Bulgarian national basketball team, despite being born in the United States.

Ibrahim Jaaber
Ibrahim Jaaber sits on top of the rim after Penn defeated Yale 86-68 on March 2, 2007, holding the net
Personal information
Born (1984-02-03) February 3, 1984
Elizabeth, New Jersey
NationalityAmerican / Bulgarian
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High schoolElizabeth (Elizabeth, New Jersey)
CollegePenn (2003–2007)
NBA draft2007 / Undrafted
Playing career2007–2013
PositionPoint guard / Shooting guard
Career history
2007–2008Aigaleo
2008–2010Lottomatica Roma
2010–2011AJ Milano
2012–2013Žalgiris Kaunas
2013Petrochimi Bandar Imam
Career highlights and awards

College career

As a former men's college basketball player at the University of Pennsylvania, he won the Ivy League Player of the Year in his junior and senior years, in the process breaking the league's career record for steals (303) and finishing among the top pickpockets in college basketball (2nd nationally in steals his junior year and 3rd nationally in steals his senior year). With Mark Zoller, Ibby also led the Quakers to three straight Ivy League titles between his sophomore and senior years; he also played well in the team's three NCAA Tournament games getting 16 points against Texas A&M and 15 against Texas and he scored 21 points when Penn visited a top North Carolina team. Jaaber will go down as one of the best players ever to play for the Quakers and is the all-time leader in steals at Penn and in the Ivy League.

Career college stats
  • 2003–2004 (Penn): Pts: 6.5 Rbs: 2.4 Stls: 1.3 Ast: .6
  • 2004–2005 (Penn): Pts: 11.5 Rbs: 4.6 Stls: 2.9 Ast: 2.8
  • 2005–2006 (Penn): Pts: 18.2 Rbs: 3.4 Stls: 3.3 Ast: 2.2 (Ivy League Player of the Year)
  • 2006–2007 (Penn): Pts: 15.9 Rbs: 4.5 Stls: 2.9 Ast: 5.2 (Ivy League Player of the Year, Big 5 Player of the Year, AP All-American Notable)
  • Career: Pts: 13.3 Rbs: 3.8 Stls: 2.7 Ast: 2.8

Professional career

Ibrahim Jaaber was not drafted by any NBA teams, but he played for the Detroit Pistons' Summer League squad from July 7–14, 2007 and he subsequently signed a contract to play professionally for a Greek League team called Aigaleo. He then moved to the premiere EuroLeague to play with Lottomatica Roma. In the 2010 NBA Summer League, he played for the Los Angeles Lakers. In August 2010 he signed with AJ Milano.[1]

On January 30, 2013, Jaaber announced that he is leaving his former team Žalgiris Kaunas due to personal reasons. He also stated that he will not play for any other European team.[2] Jaaber explained in a letter to the club he left Lithuania because he could not stand to see the dances too suggestive of Zalgiris cheerleaders and he disagreed with advertisements appearing on T-shirts team. "I am well aware that this might prevent me from earning money through basketball for the rest of my life, but I am willing to make this sacrifice because of my beliefs (Islam)," he wrote.[3]As of 2021 he works with children at IECPA Mosque in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

National team career

Jaaber played internationally with the senior men's Bulgarian national basketball team.

Career statistics

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  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season. He also played in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

EuroLeague
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2007–08 Lottomatica Roma 6122.4.405.273.2863.31.52.5.37.56.5
2008–09 Lottomatica Roma 161526.3.576.280.5943.31.91.9.310.410.4
2009–10 Lottomatica Roma 101031.0.463.225.6254.42.52.2.110.48.8
2010–11 AJ Milano 10124.4.588.353.7501.72.4.7.310.89.6
2012–13 Zalgiris 141021.1.515.333.6192.22.21.9.15.97.4

References
  1. "Olimpia Milano signs Ibrahim Jaaber". Sportando.com. August 6, 2010. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
  2. "Su krepšinyje įprastomis reklamomis ant marškinėlių nesutikęs I.Jaaberas paliko "Žalgirį"". krepsinis.net (in Lithuanian). January 30, 2013. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
  3. "Jaaber leaves Zalgiris suddenly". Euroleague.net. January 30, 2013. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.