JaRon Maurice Rush (born April 12, 1979) 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach and former player. A

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

from

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, he played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

. Undrafted in the

2000 NBA draft The 2000 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2000, at the Target Center in Minneapolis. It was the last draft held at the home arena of an NBA team until 2011; the following and subsequent drafts (through 2010) all took place at The Theater at Madis ...

, Rush played two seasons professionally for the

Los Angeles Stars LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...

of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

(ABA) and the

Roanoke Dazzle The Roanoke Dazzle were an NBA Development League team based in Roanoke, Virginia, U.S. In operation from the inaugural D-League season of 2001–02 through the 2005–06 season, the Dazzle marked the return of professional basketball to Roanoke ...

of the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of the 2024–25 season, ...

(D-League).

Career

Rush played at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

, where he and

Dan Gadzuric Daniel Gadzuric (; born 2 February 1978) is a Dutch-Serbian former professional basketball player. Gadzuric, a center, attended preparatory school at The Governor's Academy in Byfield, Massachusetts, before playing college basketball for the ...

were both named the team's most valuable freshman in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

. He was also named to the

Pacific-10 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

All-Freshman team. In his sophomore year, he hit a jumper with three seconds remaining to defeat then-No. 1-ranked

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

in a 94–93 overtime road upset. Believing he would be a first-round pick, he declared for the

but was not selected. The ''

Los Angeles Daily News The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California, after the unrelated ''Los Angeles Times'', and the flagship newspaper of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado ...

'' later called Rush "UCLA's poster child for an ill-advised exit." Rush was drafted in the ABA in 2000 by the Kansas City Knights. He was traded before the start of the season to the

, where he played the 2000–2001 season. He entered into

rehab Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to: Health * Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished * Rehabilitation hospital, hospitals devoted to the rehabilitation of patients w ...

for

alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

in 2001. He was the final cut of the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly shortened to Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Division (1967–1970), and ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

during their 2001 training camp. He played 14 games for the

in the D-League and averaged just 1.8 points before being granted his unconditional release in December 2001. He was signed to the Knights' practice squad in January 2002 before being cut in February for missing practice. He went into rehab again and retired from basketball that year. Rush accepted a job as freshman girls B-team basketball coach at Blue Valley Northwest High School in 2006. He was employed at a public relations firm in 2007 while finishing college. He played high school basketball at

The Pembroke Hill School The Pembroke Hill School (usually referred to as Pembroke Hill) is a secular, coeducational, independent preparatory school for about 1,200 students in early years (age 2 years) through high school, separated into four sections: early years-pre ...

, leading the team to three state championships. The state titles were eventually stripped after AAU Coach Myron Piggie pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge for paying $35,500 to five high school players on his Kansas City-based team from 1996 to 1998. The players, aside from JaRon and his younger brother

Kareem Kareem (alternatively spelled Karim, Kerim or Karem) () is a given name and surname of Arabic origin that means "generous", "noble", "honourable". It is also one of the Names of God. Given name Karim * Karim Abdel Aziz (born 1975), Egyptian act ...

, were

Corey Maggette Corey Antoine Maggette (; born November 12, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player who played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He became an analyst for Fox Sports. High school and college career Magget ...

, Korleone Young and Andre Williams.
at minute 27:00, ''

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

'', retrieved Feb. 23, 2011 Rush won the James A. DiRenna Award as the best basketball player in the Kansas City metro area, winning it outright as a sophomore and junior, and sharing the award with Victor Williams of

Wyandotte High School Wyandotte High School is a fully accredited public high school located in Kansas City, Kansas, United States. It serves students in grades 9 to 12 and operated by the Kansas City USD 500 school district. The building itself is a historic and ...

(and later

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 ...

) as a senior. His final play in high school was a windmill dunk which broke the backboard.

Personal

Rush's younger brothers

and Brandon are also professional basketball players. With ex-girlfriend Sarah Hofstra, he had a son, Shea, who was born during his senior year in high school. In 2013, Shea made the basketball team as a high school freshman at The Barstow School in Kansas City. Rush, who is living in Kansas City, meets with his son regularly and they enjoy playing basketball together. His son committed to play for

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

and head coach Roy Williams in 2016.

References

External links

UCLA Bruins profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rush, Jaron 1979 births Living people Basketball players from Kansas City, Missouri McDonald's High School All-Americans Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Roanoke Dazzle players Small forwards UCLA Bruins men's basketball players American men's basketball players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen Pembroke Hill School alumni