Clayton Custer (born June 28, 1995) is an American former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player and current assistant coach for the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the college athletics in the United States , athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman, Oklahoma, Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to ...

. A

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

, he played college basketball for

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic Church, ...

, and was the 2018 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year. Custer briefly played professional basketball for Śląsk Wroclaw of the

Polish Basketball League Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) (English language, English: Polish Basketball League), officially known as the Orlen Basket Liga due to its sponsorship by Orlen, is a professional men's club basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Poland. I ...

High school career

Custer played high school basketball at

Blue Valley Northwest High School Blue Valley Northwest High School (BVNW) is a high school in Overland Park, Kansas, United States. Blue Valley Northwest is one of five high schools operated by Blue Valley USD 229 school district. Blue Valley Northwest is a member of the Kansas ...

Overland Park, Kansas Overland Park ( ) is the largest city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and the List of cities in Kansas#Highest population listing, second-most populous city in the state of Kansas. It is one of four principal city, principal cities in ...

, where he and future Loyola teammate

Ben Richardson Benjamin T. Richardson, (born 21 September 1975) is an English cinematographer, television producer and director. He is best known for his work on the films '' Beasts of the Southern Wild'' (2012), '' The Fault in Our Stars'' (2014), '' Wind ...

led the team to back-to-back state championships. Custer ultimately committed early to play for coach

Fred Hoiberg Fredrick Kristian Hoiberg (born October 15, 1972) is an American college basketball coach and former player. He has served as the men's head basketball coach at the University of Nebraska since 2019. Hoiberg grew up in Ames, Iowa, and played coll ...

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State be ...

. He also received offers from

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

and

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

, and

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

coach

Bill Self Billy Eugene Self Jr. (born December 27, 1962) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach of the Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball, Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team. Self has held various coaching roles at the collegiate level an ...

told him he was good enough to play for the Jayhawks but they had too many guards at that moment.

College career

As a freshman in the 2014–15 season, Custer played sparingly behind the Cyclones'

Monté Morris Monté Robert Morris ( ; born June 27, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Iowa State Cyclones. Early life Morris was born ...

, one of the top point guards in the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

. Custer chose to transfer following the season, after scoring 13 points in 12 games. He ultimately re-joined Richardson under coach

Porter Moser Porter Andrew Moser (born August 24, 1968) is a college basketball coach who is the current head coach of the University of Oklahoma men's basketball team. Moser spent 10 years (2011–2021) at Loyola University Chicago, helping lead the Rambler ...

at Loyola after Moser took him to lunch and met with his parents. After sitting out the 2015–16 season per

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) transfer rules, Custer immediately joined the Ramblers' starting lineup, allowing star

Milton Doyle Milton Edward Doyle (born October 31, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for Indios de Mayagüez of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional. He is also contracted with Melbourne United of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) ...

to play off the ball. Custer averaged 11.6 points and 3.1 assists per game as a sophomore. As a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

junior, Custer led the Ramblers to the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

regular-season title, despite missing five games to an ankle injury. Custer was named the MVC Player of the Year. Following a run through the 2018 MVC tournament, Custer and the Ramblers entered the 2018 NCAA Tournament as an 11 seed. After a first-round win over the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes, known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes, are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

, Custer led the team to a 63–62 second-round win over

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. Custer hit the game-winner with 3.7 seconds left to advance the Ramblers to the Sweet 16. He ended up leading the Ramblers to the Final Four while averaging 13.2 points and 4.2 assists per game. At the close of the 2017–18 season, Custer was awarded the

Lou Henson Award The Lou Henson Award is an award given annually by Collegeinsider.com to the most outstanding mid-major men's college basketball player in NCAA Division I competition. The award, established in 2010, is named for esteemed men's college basketball ...

for top mid-major player in the country.

Professional career

After going undrafted in the

2019 NBA draft The 2019 NBA draft was held on June 20, 2019. It took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible p ...

, Custer signed a professional contract with Śląsk Wroclaw of the

. He received limited playing time, and his contract was bought out midway through the season.

Coaching career

Following his playing career, Custer became the Director of Player Development for Loyola's men's team. After serving in that role for one season, Custer followed head coach

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

to become their Director of Video Operations & Player Development.

References

External links

Loyola Ramblers bioIowa State Cyclones bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Custer, Clayton 1995 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Poland American men's basketball players Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball players Loyola Ramblers men's basketball coaches Loyola Ramblers men's basketball players Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball coaches Pembroke Hill School alumni Point guards Śląsk Wrocław basketball players Basketball players from Kansas City, Kansas Sportspeople from Overland Park, Kansas 21st-century American sportsmen