J. T. Tiller (born May 11, 1988) is an American professional

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 h ...

player. He played collegiately with the

University of Missouri Tigers The Missouri Tigers intercollegiate athletics programs represent the University of Missouri, located in Columbia. The name comes from a band of armed Union Home Guards called the Fighting Tigers of Columbia who, in 1864, protected Columbia fr ...

College career

Tiller won the 2009

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...

Defensive Player of the Year award after finishing his junior season at Mizzou with 8.4 points per game, as well as 4.0 assists and 2.1 steals. Tiller is known for his standout defense. In 2008–09, he was 9th in the nation in steals per minute, and in 2009-10 he finished 12th.

Professional career

Tiller was drafted in the 8th round of the 2010 NBA Development League Draft by the

Idaho Stampede Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

. Through 3 games with Idaho, he was averaging 6 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists in 23.3 minutes. Despite these performances, Tiller was waived in November 2010. After playing two seasons in the

Polish Basketball League Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) (English: Polish Basketball League) is a professional men's club basketball league in Poland. It constitutes the first and highest-tier level of the Polish league pyramid. The winning team of the final round are crow ...

for

Siarka Tarnobrzeg Siarka Tarnobrzeg () is a Polish professional football club, based in Tarnobrzeg, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, which competes in II liga in the 2022–23 season, the third tier of the national football league system. In early 1990s, Siarka play ...

, Tiller signed with

Landstede Basketbal Landstede Hammers is a Dutch basketball club based in Zwolle. The club plays in the BNXT League, the Dutch top tier division. The club was founded as Cees Lubbers The Hammers in 1995. In 1999, the club’s name was changed into Landstede Hammers ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in 2013. In his second season, Landstede was eliminated 3–4 in the Semi-finals by

SPM Shoeters Den Bosch Heroes Den Bosch is a Dutch professional basketball club based in 's-Hertogenbosch. The club plays in the BNXT League since 2021 and in the top basketball division in the Netherlands since 1972. Founded as EBBC in 1951, the club had several spons ...

. After the regular season, Tiller was given a place in the

DBL All-Defense Team The Dutch Basketball League (DBL) All-Defense Team is a team constituted by the best defensive players in a season of the Dutch Basketball League, the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands. This team is based on players' perfo ...

. For the 2015–16 season, Tiller signed with Polpharma Starogard Gdański of the Polish PLK. Tiller returned to Landstede Basketbal on August 10, 2016. In the 2016–17 season, Tiller was named to the

All-DBL Team The Dutch Basketball League (DBL) All-Star Team, also known as All-DBL Team, is a team constituted by the main players in a season of the Dutch Basketball League, the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands. This team is based o ...

and was awarded the

DBL Defensive Player of the Year The Dutch Basketball League Best Defender of the Year is an award that is yearly given to the best defensive player in the DBL, the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands. The award is handed out after the regular season since 20 ...

Award.

The "J.T. Tiller Rule"

On March 22, 2009, during a second-round NCAA Tournament game against Marquette, Tiller drove to the basket and drew a foul in a tie game with 5.5 seconds remaining. Tiller landed hard on his wrist, rendering him unable to shoot the two free throws awarded to him. Under NCAA rules at the time, Missouri coach Mike Anderson had the power to choose which player on his roster could shoot the free throws in place of Tiller. Anderson selected freshman

Kim English Kim English (September 6, 1970 – April 2, 2019) was an American electronic, soul, gospel and house music singer. Early life On September 6, 1970, English was born in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. English's parents were Ronald English and Ann ...

, who emerged from the bench to bury both shots and secure the victory for the Tigers. Many in the Marquette camp were incensed that English, a 72-percent free throw shooter, was able to "pinch shoot" for Tiller after his injury at the discretion of the injured player's head coach. Fewer than three months later, on June 9, 2009, an NCAA panel announced a rule change: In the case of an injured player, the opposing team's coach would be able to choose the replacement among the four remaining players on the floor. The NCAA did not acknowledge Tiller's role in the rule change, but Missouri fans immediately created a nickname for the new policy: "The J.T. Tiller Rule."

Statistics

References

External links

Player Bio - J.T. TillerDraft Express profile

(Polish)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tiller, J. T. 1988 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in the Netherlands American expatriate basketball people in Poland Siarka Tarnobrzeg (basketball) players Basketball players from Marietta, Georgia Dutch Basketball League players Idaho Stampede players Landstede Hammers players Missouri Tigers men's basketball players American men's basketball players Point guards SKS Starogard Gdański players