Curtis Reynard McCants (born August 2, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6-foot point guard, he played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

George Mason George Mason (October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, one of the three delegates present who refused to sign the Constitution. His writings, including s ...

for 3 years, being named CAA Rookie of the Year in 1994 and first team All-Conference in 1996 before leaving the program after a fight with a teammate. He finished his college career at

Cal State Bakersfield California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB, Cal State Bakersfield, or CSU Bakersfield) is a public university in Bakersfield, California. It was established in 1965 as Kern State College and officially in 1968 as California State College Bak ...

in the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

and started his professional career in 1997 playing in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. In 2001 he was the top scorer of the

LNB Pro A The LNB Pro A, currently known for sponsorship reasons as Betclic Élite, is the top-tier men's professional basketball league in France. The competition has existed since 1921. Since 1987, the Ligue Nationale de Basket has governed the league ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. In 10 years of pro career he played in several countries in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

. McCants has a daughter, Asia McCants, who played Division 1 basketball at Howard University.

High school career

McCants was born in the state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

but grew up in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

with his mother and grandmother, attending

Benjamin N. Cardozo High School Benjamin N. Cardozo High School is a public high school in the Bayside neighborhood of Queens, New York City. The school was named for Benjamin N. Cardozo, who served as justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and chief judge of the New York Court of A ...

. He then moved to

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but i ...

, where he attended

St. Raphael Academy Saint Raphael Academy (known colloquially as Saint Ray's, or simply, Saints) is a Roman Catholic, coeducational, college preparatory school in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, USA. It was founded in the tradition of Saint John Baptist de Lasalle and roo ...

in Pawtucket. In his junior year he earned first team All-State honors, averaging 34.9 points per game and recorded a career-high 55 points in a single game. In his senior year he was again named first team All-State, with averages of 32 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists per game, and was named Rhode Island Gatorade Player of the Year.

College career

McCants signed to play for

and during his first season he was named the CAA Rookie of the Year after averaging 14.6 points, 2 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game''2007–08 George Mason Patriots Men's Basketball'', 2007, p. 70. while shooting 39.6% from the 3-point line, one of the best marks in a single season in the history of George Mason.''2007–08 George Mason Patriots Men's Basketball'', 2007, p. 65. He ranked second on his team in scoring (behind junior Donald Ross) and assists. In his sophomore year of college McCants improved his assists numbers, and had several games with 10+ assists;''2007–08 George Mason Patriots Men's Basketball'', 2007, p. 69. on February 22, 1995 he recorded 15 assists versus

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a ...

, the single-game record for George Mason that still stands as of 2019.''George Mason Men's Basketball 2018–19 Prospectus'', p. 33. At the end of the 1994–95 season he ranked 2nd in assists in the whole NCAA Division I with an average of 9.3 per game, behind

Nelson Haggerty Nelson D. Haggerty (September 16, 1973 – April 16, 2021) was an American basketball coach and college basketball player. He had been serving as an assistant coach for the North Texas Mean Green at the time of his death. He played for the Baylor ...

of Baylor. He also had a new George Mason record for most assists in a single season with 251''2007–08 George Mason Patriots Men's Basketball'', 2007, p. 66. and ranked second on the team in scoring behind Nate Langley. McCants' junior year at GMU saw him become the primary scoring option of the team, and he averaged 22 points per game, leading his team in both scoring and assists. He recorded a career-high 38 points versus Cal Poly-SLO on January 13, 1996 and a season-high 14 assists against

Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia * Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region *Hampton, Victoria Canada *Hampton, New Brunswick *Ham ...

on December 28, 1995, For the second consecutive season McCants ranked 2nd overall in assists per game in the NCAA with 8.3 behind

Raimonds Miglinieks Raimonds Miglinieks (born July 16, 1970 in Riga, Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR) is a retired Latvian professional basketball player and basketball coach. Standing at a height of 1.90 m (6'2 ") tall, he was a point guard with excellent c ...

UC Irvine UC may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' University Challenge'', a popular British quiz programme airing on BBC Two ** ''University Challenge (New Zealand)'', the New Zealand version of the British programme * Universal Century, one of the t ...

, and was named in the All-CAA First Team. He holds George Mason's records for total assists with 598, career average with 7.3, and most assists in a season with 251 in 1994-95, all still standing as of 2019. On April 20, 1996 McCants was charged with

disorderly conduct Disorderly conduct is a crime in most jurisdictions in the United States, the People's Republic of China, and Taiwan. Typically, "disorderly conduct" makes it a crime to be drunk in public, to " disturb the peace", or to loiter in certain ar ...

and arrested after getting into a fistfight with Camerron Taylor, a former GMU player. Following the incident, McCants was removed from the team. Facing the possibility of sitting out the whole season, he transferred to

in the

, where he played his last season of college basketball. He played 24 games, averaging 14.2 points, 2.1 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 0.7 steals per game in 28.5 minutes per contest, shooting a career-high 40.2% from three.

College statistics

''Source'' , - , align="left" , 1993–94 , align="left" ,

, 27 , , , , 22.9 , , .472 , , .396 , , .757 , , 2.0 , , 4.6 , , 1.3 , , 0.1 , , 14.6 , - , align="left" , 1994–95 , align="left" ,

, 27 , , , , 29.1 , , .435 , , .360 , , .801 , , 3.2 , , 9.3 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 15.2 , - , align="left" , 1995–96 , align="left" ,

, 27 , , , , 31.2 , , .442 , , .312 , , .833 , , 4.0 , , 8.3 , , 1.3 , , 0.0 , , 22.0 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , , 81 , , , , 27.7 , , .448 , , .345 , , .803 , , 3.1 , , 7.4 , , 1.2 , , 0.0 , , 17.3 , -

Professional career

After the end of his senior season, McCants was automatically eligible for the

1997 NBA Draft The 1997 NBA draft took place on June 25, 1997, at Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Vancouver Grizzlies had the highest probability to win the NBA draft lottery, but since they were an expansion team along with the Toronto ...

, but he was not selected by an NBA franchise. He briefly signed for the

Connecticut Skyhawks The Connecticut Skyhawks were a men's spring-professional basketball team in the United States Basketball League. History The Skyhawks were founded in 1985 as the Connecticut Colonels. The Colonels suspended operations until the 1988 season, whe ...

of the

USBL The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to ...

, being released on May 10, 1997, and moved to

, joining

Hapoel Tel Aviv Hapoel Tel Aviv ( he, הפועל תל אביב) is a sports club in Israel, founded in the 1920s, and part of the Hapoel association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, suc ...

, playing in the Israeli second level and averaging 20.6 points per game. In 1998 he came back to the United States to play for the

Mansfield Hawks The Mansfield Hawks were an International Basketball Association (IBA) professional basketball team that existed for one season in 1998-99. The Hawks won the IBA championship in their lone season of existence. They were guided by local, but inf ...

of the IBA before going back to Hapoel Tel Aviv in 1999, where he played 10 games averaging 19.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists. He then joined

Trotamundos de Carabobo Trotamundos B.B.C. (), also known as Trotamundos de Carabobo, is a professional basketball team based in Valencia, located in the Venezuelan Carabobo State. The team currently plays in the Venezuelan SuperLiga. The team has won the Venezuelan champ ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...

, and then moved to

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

ending the 1999–2000 season with

BC Kyiv BC Kyiv ( uk, БК "Київ") was a Ukrainian professional basketball club based in Kyiv. The club's home court for Ukrainian domestic league matches was the Meridian Sports Complex, which has a seating capacity of 1,500. Large attendance games a ...

. In 2000 he signed for

Olympique Antibes Olympique Antibes, in full ''Olympique d'Antibes Juan-les-Pins'' and branded as Antibes Sharks, is a basketball club from the city of Antibes, France. Established in 1933, the club's men's senior team currently plays in LNB Pro B, the French s ...

, and after 3 games where he averaged a league-leading 23.0 points, he moved to Montpellier Paillade, where he played the remainder of the season, averaging 21.6 points in 26 games for a total average of 21.7, the best in the league, and won the

LNB Pro A Best Scorer The LNB Pro A Best Scorer, or Top Scorer, is the best scorer of the season award, of the top-tier level men's professional club basketball league in France, the LNB Pro A. In basketball, points are the sum of the score accumulated through free thr ...

title. After experiencing success in France he moved to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

after a brief experience in Venezuela with Marinos de Oriente, and signed for

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...

. He competed in the

2001–02 Euroleague The 2001–02 Euroleague was the second season of the professional basketball competition for elite clubs throughout Europe, organised by Euroleague Basketball Company, and it was the 45th season of the premier competition for European men's clu ...

, averaging 13.8 points in 19 games. In the Russian league he played 34 games (25 starts) averaging 9.5 points and 4.1 assists per game. In 2002 he moved to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, signing for

Montepaschi Siena Mens Sana 1871 Basket is an Italian professional basketball club based in Siena. It is a section of the sports club Polisportiva Mens Sana, founded in 1871. Under the name Montepaschi Siena, derived from sponsor Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, t ...

, and averaged 5 points in 19.8 minutes per game in 4 appearances. He also played 7 games in the

2002–03 Euroleague The 2002–03 Euroleague was the third season of the professional basketball competition for elite clubs throughout Europe, organised by Euroleague Basketball Company, and it was the 46th season of the premier competition for European men's club ...

, averaging 4.1 points per game. In 2003 he played in the CBA with the

Dakota Wizards The Dakota Wizards were an American professional basketball team based in Bismarck, North Dakota. They played in the NBA Development League from 2006 until 2012. After the 2011–12 NBA Development League season, 2011–12 season, the team relocat ...

, averaging 5.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 5 games played. He then joined

KK Split Košarkaški klub Split ( en, Split Basketball Club), commonly referred to as KK Split or simply Split, is a men's professional basketball club based in Split, Croatia. The club competes in the ABA League and the Croatian League. History The c ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. On December 16, 2003 he recorded 9 steals in an

ABA League The ABA League, renamed to the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the 1st-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Ma ...

game against

KK Zagreb Košarkaški klub Zagreb ( en, Zagreb Basketball Club), commonly referred to as KK Zagreb or simply Zagreb, was a professional basketball club based in Zagreb, Croatia. It competed in the ABA League and the Croatian League. In the 2011–12 season ...

, a new ABA League record. He also recorded 12 assists versus

Cholet Basket Cholet Basket is a professional basketball club that is based in Cholet, France. The club plays in the LNB Pro A, French League. Their home arena is La Meilleraie. Established in 1975, Cholet won its first French championship in the 2009–10 seas ...

in the

2003–04 ULEB Cup The 2003–04 ULEB Cup was the second season of the second-tier level European professional club basketball competition, EuroCup Basketball, organized by the Euroleague Basketball Company. The EuroCup is the European-wide league level that is o ...

, and averaged 15.1 points and 6.8 assists in the competition. He then went back to France, this time signing with

Limoges CSP Limoges Cercle Saint-Pierre, commonly referred to as Limoges CSP or CSP, is a French professional basketball club based in the city of Limoges. History The club was founded in 1929, but its peak was during the 1980s and 1990s, when they became t ...

where he averaged 13.8 points and 6.9 assists per game over 17 appearances. In 2004 he joined Hapoel Tel Aviv for the third time in his career, and averaged 13.9 points and 7.7 assists in 15 games before moving to

Ural Great Perm PBC Ural Great Perm was a Russian professional basketball club that was located in Perm, Russia. The club's home arena was Molot Sports Hall. The team played in the Russian Super League. History The club was established in the year 1995 on the ...

in Russia, where he finished the season with 15.5 points and 5.3 assists in 4 games played. In 2005–06 he played for Dijon in France (9 games with 11.9 points and 7.7 assists per game) and Benfica in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

(averaging 9.1 points and 5.8 assists in 9 games). He played his last season in 2006–07 in Israel with

Ironi Ramat Gan Maccabi Ironi Ramat Gan ( he, מכבי עירוני רמת גן, formerly Ironi Ramat Gan) is a male basketball club based in Ramat Gan in central Israel. The team plays in Liga Leumit, the second division in Israeli basketball. It plays at the Sha ...

, playing 8 games and averaging 11.9 points and 5.5 assists.

References

External links