Jimmy Christopher Banks Jr. (born August 24, 1989) is an American former

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Career

College and amateur

Banks attended Riverside High School, where he was a four-time All-Conference, played in the Region II Olympic Development Program, and played club soccer for FC Milwaukee, before going on to play four years of college soccer at the

University of Wisconsin Green Bay A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', whic ...

. At Green Bay he was the Horizon League all-newcomer team as a freshman in 2007, was the 2009 Horizon League Player of the Year, and was a 2010 All-League First Team and All-Great Lakes Second Team selection. JC was inducted into the University of Wisconsin Green Bay's Hall of Fame in 2018. During his college years Banks also played for the Madison 56ers in the National Premier Soccer League and Chicago Fire Premier in the USL Premier Development League.

Professional

Banks was drafted in the first round (8th overall) of the

2011 MLS Supplemental Draft The 2011 MLS Supplemental Draft is a secondary draft that was held by Major League Soccer on January 18, 2011. The draft consisted of three rounds with each of the 18 MLS clubs participating. The return of the Supplemental Draft after a two-year h ...

by Toronto FC, but was not offered a contract with the MLS team. After trialing with several clubs in Europe, including Swedish side BK Häcken, Banks signed with

USL Professional Division The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

club Rochester Rhinos. He made his professional debut on April 15, 2011 in Rochester's season opening game against the

Richmond Kickers Richmond Kickers is an American professional soccer club based in Richmond, Virginia. The Kickers compete as a member of USL League One (USL-1). The club was established in 1993, and began play that same year as a United States Interregional S ...

, and scored his first professional goal on April 23 in a 3-2 win over the Dayton Dutch Lions. He was selected as the Rhinos' rookie of the year following his first professional season. Rochester re-signed Banks for the 2012 season on October 25, 2011. He was voted the Rhinos' MVP after the 2012 season, tallying 5 goals and a league leading 8 assists. He again received this honor in 2014 after totaling 3 assists and a career high 9 goals. He was also named Offensive Player of the Year in 2012 & 2014, USL PRO Assists Champion & PRO First XI in 2012, and USL All League Second Team in 2014. On December 11, 2014,

Minnesota United FC Minnesota United FC is an American professional soccer club based in Saint Paul, Minnesota that plays in the Western Conference of Major League Soccer. The club began play in 2017 as the league's 22nd club, and replaced the North American Socc ...

announced that they had signed Banks. He made his league debut for the club on April 25, 2015, coming on as an 85th minute substitute for Jonny Steele in a 2-2 home draw with the

San Antonio Scorpions The San Antonio Scorpions were an American professional soccer team based in San Antonio, Texas. Founded in 2010, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League in 2012. The Scorpions played at Toyota Field, a soccer specific stadium ...

. He scored his first league goal for the club on June 6, 2015 in a 1-1 away draw with the Carolina RailHawks. His goal, scored in the 48th minute, made the score 1-0 to Minnesota United. On January 25, 2017, Jacksonville Armada FC announced that they had signed Banks. He made his league debut for the club on April 2, 2017 in a 1-0 home victory over FC Edmonton. Banks made an immediate impact with his new club, scoring the winning goal in the 77th minute. In December 2018, Banks joined USL League One club Forward Madison FC ahead of their inaugural season. He made his league debut for the club on April 6, 2019 in a 1-0 away defeat to Chattanooga Red Wolves SC. Banks announced his retirement from playing professional soccer on February 5, 2021.

Personal

J. C.'s father, Jimmy Banks, played soccer for Milwaukee Wave and with the United States men's national soccer team at the

1987 Pan American Games The 1987 Pan American Games, officially known as the X Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event held in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, on August 7–23, 1987. Over 4,300 athletes from 38 countries in the Americas c ...

and in qualification for, and in, the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Me ...

References

External links

Green Bay profile

J.C. Banks
at North American Soccer League * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Banks, J. C. 1989 births Living people American soccer players People from Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Soccer players from Milwaukee Association football forwards Green Bay Phoenix men's soccer players Chicago Fire U-23 players Toronto FC draft picks Rochester New York FC players Minnesota United FC (2010–2016) players Jacksonville Armada FC players Forward Madison FC players North American Soccer League players USL Championship players USL League One players USL League Two players National Premier Soccer League players