James Dixon Mays (born March 8, 1986) is an American-born naturalized Central African former 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 ...

player currently working as an assistant coach for the

Salt Lake City Stars The Salt Lake City Stars are an American minor-league professional basketball team. They are a member of the NBA G League, based in the Salt Lake City suburb of West Valley City, Utah, and are affiliated with the Utah Jazz. Before the 2016–17 ...

of the

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

. He represented the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

at the

2011 FIBA Africa Championship AfroBasket 2011 was the 26th FIBA Africa Championship, played under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de Basketball, the basketball sport governing body, and the African zone thereof. At stake is the berth allocated to Africa in the ...

.James Mays's profile , 2011 FIBA Africa Championship , ARCHIVE.FIBA.COM
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High school

Mays averaged 20.1 points, 15 rebounds, two steals and two assists per game for Garner High in 2003–04. He shot a strong 54.3 percent from the field that year when he led Garner to the conference championship. A McDonald's All-American nominee as a senior, he was also named MVP of his conference and to the all-conference team. He played in the North Carolina vs. South Carolina High School All-Star game where he played against Clemson classmate Sam Perry. Perry was the top scorer, but Mays was named the MVP. Along with that, he also played in the East vs. West North Carolina Coaches Association All-Star game in July. He scored a season high 30 points against East Wake High School as a senior, but he had a 36-point game as a junior against Southeast Raleigh for his career high. In his junior year, he scored 19.8 points and 11.9 rebounds per game.

College

Freshman

Mays started eight of the 32 games in which he appeared. Averaged 4.3 points and better than one steal per game.

Sophomore

Started all 11 games in which he appeared. (Mays was ruled academically ineligible for the second semester). The Tigers posted an 11–0 mark with Mays, and managed just an 8–13 record in his stead. Averaged 9.2 points and a career-best 7.6 rebounds. Posted 19 points and seven rebounds against South Carolina.

Junior

Mays posted career-bests in points (12.2 ppg), assists (2.7 apg) and steals (1.9 spg); also averaged 6.4 rebounds. Set Clemson single-season records for assists (95) and steals (69) for a frontcourt player. Posted eight double-digit rebounding efforts and seven point-rebound double-doubles. Exemplified his balanced play with an 18-point, nine-rebound, four-assist, five-steal, two-block effort against Monmouth.

Senior

Fought through a rash of injuries to finish second on the team in rebounds per game, third in steals, while posting a double-digit scoring average. Named to the ACC-All Tournament Second Team after helping the Tigers reach the title game. Led Clemson in rebounding 10 times. Recorded a career-high six steals in a season-opening win against Furman. Tallied a season-high 20 points in a comeback, road win at Maryland. Suffered a broken hand against North Carolina but still produced nine points, eight rebounds, four steals and two blocks.

Professional career

2008 to 2012 seasons

Mays was not selected during the

2008 NBA draft The 2008 NBA Draft was held on June 26, 2008, at the The Theater at Madison Square Garden, Washington Mutual Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. In this NBA draft, draft, National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took t ...

. He started his professional career with the

Colorado 14ers Colorado is a state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas to the east, ...

of the

NBA D-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, ...

. He signed with the

Beijing Ducks The Beijing Shougang Ducks (''simplified Chinese'': 北京首钢霹雳鸭俱乐部篮球队), also known as Beijing Shougang or Beijing Ducks, are a professional basketball team based in Beijing, China, which plays in the North Division of th ...

of the

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier men's professional basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...

(CBA) for the 2009–10 season. In 2010, Mays signed with

Caciques de Humacao Caciques de Humacao was a professional basketball team based in Humacao, Puerto Rico Humacao () is a Humacao barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in Puerto Rico located in the eastern coast of the island, north ...

of the

Baloncesto Superior Nacional The Baloncesto Superior Nacional, abbreviated as BSN, is the first-tier-level professional men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1929 and is organized by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation. T ...

(BtN), Puerto Rico's top-flight basketball league. For the 2010–11 season, hr signed with

Oyak Renault Oyak Renault was a professional basketball club based in Bursa, Turkey that lastly played in the Turkish Basketball Second League. Their home arena was the Bursa Atatürk Sport Hall. The club had played in the top men's professional basketball di ...

of the

Turkish Basketball League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The ...

(TBL). On July 2, 2011, he signed with

Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi S.K. Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi SK ('' English: Mersin Metropolitan Municipality Sports Club''), also known simply as Mersin BB, was a professional basketball team based in the city of Mersin in Turkey. Their home arena was the Edip Buran Arena w ...

in Turkey. With Mersin, he averaged 17.2 points per game, 9 rebounds per game, 2.2 steals per game, and 1 block per game. On May 17, 2011, Mays went to Puerto Rico for the second time, this time signing with

Capitanes de Arecibo The Capitanes de Arecibo are a Puerto Rican professional basketball team based in Arecibo that competes in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) league. In 2010, the team also had the distinction to play in the Premier Basketball League (PBL) ...

. He replaced forward/center

Ike Diogu Ikechukwu Somtochukwu Diogu (born September 11, 1983) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player for Piratas de La Guaira of the Superliga Profesional de Baloncesto in Venezuela. Family and early life Diogu's parents, natives of Ni ...

. He also represented the

at the

, in August 2011.

2012–13 season

Mays began the 2012–13 season with the

Springfield Armor Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queen ...

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, ...

. On February 4, 2013, Mays was named to the Prospects All-Star roster for the 2013 NBA D-League All-Star Game. On February 10, 2013, Mays was traded to the

Maine Red Claws The Maine Celtics are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Portland, Maine, and are affiliated with the Boston Celtics. The Maine Celtics play their home games at the Portland Expo Building. The Boston Celtics pu ...

for

Kris Joseph Kristopher Carlos Joseph (born December 17, 1988) is a Canadian former professional basketball player. He played for the Syracuse Orange men's basketball team from 2008 to 2012. He was selected in the second round of the 2012 NBA draft by the Bo ...

. On February 26, 2013, Mays was traded to the Sioux Falls Skyforce in exchange for Gabe Pruitt.

2013 to 2016 seasons

Mays signed as import of San Mig Super Coffee Mixers ongoing Commissioners Cup conference. After struggling early on in the conference, he managed to step his game up a notch to help the Coffee Mixers clinch the title, and their 3rd straight championship as well. In July 2014, Mays signed with

Enel Brindisi New Basket Brindisi, for sponsorship reasons named Valtur Brindisi or shortly Brindisi, is a professional Italian basketball based in Brindisi, Apulia. They compete in Serie A2, second level of Italian basketball system. Founded in 2004, the we ...

Lega Serie A The Lega Nazionale Professionisti Serie A (Italian for ''National Professionals League Serie A''), commonly known as LNPA or Lega Serie A (Serie A League), is the governing body that runs the major professional Association football, football com ...

. In 2015, Mays signed with the

Shaanxi Wolves The Shaanxi Xinda Wolves are a Chinese professional men's basketball club based in Weinan, Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the nort ...

of National Basketball League of China, the second tier basketball league in China. In September 2015, he helped Shaanxi Wolves win its first NBL championship. On October 2, 2015, he signed with Al Shabab of the United Arab Emirates D1.

2017 to 2019 seasons

He played in the summer of 2017 at

Guizhou White Tigers The National Basketball League () is a professional basketball minor league in China, called the Chinese Basketball League (CBL) before 2006. It is commonly known as the NBL, and this name (spelled out in letters) is often used even in Chinese. ...

in the NBL. In January 2018, he signed with the Qingdao DoubleStar Eagles of the CBA. On August 31, 2018, Mays signed with

Changwon LG Sakers Changwon LG Sakers are a professional basketball team located in the city of Changwon in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. They play in the Korean Basketball League (KBL), and their home arena is Changwon Gymnasium which has a capacity for ...

of the Korean league.

Coaching career

On September 20, 2023, Mays joined the

of the

as an assistant coach.

References

External links

Real GM profile

Turkish League profile

Profile
at Eurobasket.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Mays, James 1986 births Living people Centers (basketball) American expatriate basketball people in China American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in South Korea American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American expatriate basketball people in the United Arab Emirates American men's basketball players Basketball players from North Carolina Beijing Ducks players Caciques de Humacao players Changwon LG Sakers players Clemson Tigers men's basketball players Colorado 14ers players Daegu KOGAS Pegasus players Garner Magnet High School alumni Magnolia Hotshots players Maine Red Claws players Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi S.K. players New Basket Brindisi players Oyak Renault basketball players People from Garner, North Carolina Philippine Basketball Association imports Power forwards Qingdao Eagles players Shandong Hi-Speed Kirin players Sioux Falls Skyforce players Springfield Armor players Sportspeople from Wake County, North Carolina Shaanxi Wolves players Al-Ahli Club (Manama) basketball players Guizhou White Tigers players