Isaiah Sykes (born December 2, 1991) is an American professional basketball player who is currently a free agent. He played college basketball for the

UCF Knights men's basketball The UCF Knights men's basketball team represents The University of Central Florida located in Orlando, Florida, United States. UCF competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and the American Athletic Confer ...

team where he was named to the 2013

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are ...

First Team. He scored a career-high 36 points in a double overtime victory over

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called church (building), churches), Hindui ...

in the opening round of the 2014 AAC tournament.

High school career

Sykes played

high school basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's ...

representing Edwin C. Denby High School (

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

). Playing for head coach Chuck Albright, Sykes averaged 19.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists throughout his senior year. After leading the school to the Michigan Class A state semi-finals, he was selected to play in the Michigan High School All-Star Game in which he scored 17 points. Soon after he graduated from Denby, Sykes played for the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

(AAU) team known as the Michigan Hurricanes, under coach Will Smith. He then went on to participate in the 2009 Reebok All-American Camp, earning all-star honors.Isaiah Sykes Bio
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College career

Sykes chose to attend the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

after also considering the schools:

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the ...

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

. In his freshman year, he seemed to have little effect on the success of the program, led by

Marcus Jordan Marcus James Jordan (born December 24, 1990) is an American former college basketball player who played for the UCF Knights men's basketball team.

and Keith Clanton. By the end of his first season, Sykes averaged 4.0 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. He logged a season-high 12 points against

Furman Furman may refer to: Places * Furman, Alabama, an unincorporated community in Wilcox County, United States * Furman, South Carolina, a town in Hampton County, United States * Furman, Alberta, Canada * Furman, Poland * Furman Bluffs, Marie Byrd La ...

on December 29, 2010. By the end of Sykes's sophomore year, he had made 32 of 33 possible starts in the Knights' regular season schedule. He scored at least 20 points in six of these games and also emerged as a huge rebounder, recording six double-doubles. He was also named the 2012 UCF Holiday Classic MVP. Shortly before he entered his senior year, Sykes considered entering the NBA draft but withdrew his name. On February 9, 2013, against

East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its ori ...

, Sykes became the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athleti ...

's second player to record multiple triple-doubles in a single season. Becoming one of the

's premier scorers, rebounders, and shot-blockers, he was named to the conference's All-Defensive Team and All-Conference First Team. After an exceptionally successful junior year in college basketball, Isaiah Sykes was named to the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA ...

All-League Preseason Second Team. During his senior season he averaged 17.2 points per game and scored a career-high 36 points in a victory over the

Temple Owls The Temple Owls are the athletic teams that represent Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The current athletic director is Arthur Johnson. The owl has been the symbol and mascot for Temple University since its founding in the 188 ...

on March 12, 2014. The record initiated a win in the opening round of the

2014 American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament The 2014 American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament was the first conference tournament of the American Athletic Conference (The American). It was the first conference tournament held since the split of the original Big East Conf ...

College statistics

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2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, style="text-align:left;",

UCF The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University S ...

, 32 , , 1 , , 16.4 , , .563 , , .000 , , .475 , , 3.2 , , .8 , , .8 , , .0 , , 4.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 32 , , 30.7 , , .545 , , .286 , , .546 , , 6.4 , , 2.0 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , 12.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 31 , , 31 , , 34.8 , , .457 , , .320 , , .617 , , 7.5 , , 4.5 , , 2.3 , , .5 , , 16.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;",

, 30 , , 30 , , 31.9 , , .475 , , .375 , , .540 , , 7.2 , , 3.5 , , 1.7 , , .2 , , 17.2

Professional career

After going undrafted in the

2014 NBA draft The 2014 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2014, at the Barclays Center, Brooklyn National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. ...

, Sykes joined the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Ea ...

for the

2014 NBA Summer League The 2014 NBA Summer League consists of two pro basketball leagues organized by the NBA and the Orlando Magic just after the 2014 NBA Draft. Ten teams took part in the week-long summer league at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, from July 5 ...

. On August 11, 2014, he signed with Basket Recanati of the

Serie A2 Gold Basket Serie A2, known for sponsorship reasons as Serie A2 Old Wild West, is a men's basketball league in Italy. It constitutes the second-tier of the Italian league pyramid, below the first division LBA and above the third division Serie B, with prom ...

.Recanati lands rookie Isaiah Sykes
/ref>

References

External links

RealGM profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sykes, Isaiah 1991 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Basketball players from Detroit Maccabi Hod HaSharon players Shooting guards Small forwards UCF Knights men's basketball players Al Mouttahed Tripoli players