Keyonte Darnell George (born November 8, 2003) 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 ...

player for the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

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 ...

(NBA). 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

Baylor Bears The Baylor Bears are the athletic teams that represent Baylor University. The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as one of only three private school members of the Big 12 Conference. Prior t ...

. He was a consensus five-star recruit and one of the top players in the 2022 class.

Early life

George began playing high school basketball for

Lewisville High School Lewisville High School is a public high school in Lewisville, Texas in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The oldest of five high schools in the Lewisville Independent School District, it was opened in 1897, making it the only school in the district t ...

Lewisville, Texas Lewisville ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Denton County with portions extending into Dallas County. As one of the Mid-Cities within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the 2020 census reported a population of 111,822. O ...

. As a freshman, he averaged 21 points, four rebounds and 1.9 steals per game, and was named District 6-6A Offensive Player of the Year. George averaged 23.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.1 steals per game as a sophomore, earning District 6-6A MVP honors. For his junior season, he transferred to iSchool of Lewisville. George averaged 24.8 points per game as a junior. He moved to

IMG Academy IMG Academy is a University-preparatory school, preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. The organization is set across over 600 acres (243 ha) and features programs consisting of sport ca ...

Bradenton, Florida Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698, up from 49,546 at the 2010 census. It is a pri ...

for his senior season, where he averaged 17.8 points per game and shot 41% from three-point range. He was the highest-ranked recruit in program history when he committed to Baylor University for the 2023 college basketball season. George was a consensus five-star recruit and one of the top players in the 2022 class, according to major recruiting services. On August 8, 2021, he committed to playing college basketball for Baylor over offers from

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

and

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

College career

On January 11, 2023, George scored 32 points in an 83–78 victory over

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

. He was named

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

Freshman of the Year as well as Second Team All-Big 12. George scored 506 points as a freshman at Baylor, the second most in school history, and holds the program record for the most 20-point games in program history with 20.

Professional career

The

selected George with the sixteenth overall pick in the

2023 NBA draft The 2023 NBA draft, the 77th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft, was held on June 22, 2023, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The draft consisted of 58 picks instead of the typical 60 for the second ...

. After playing

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

as a prep and in college, George began playing as a

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

under head coach

Will Hardy William Culvahouse Hardy (born January 21, 1988) is an American professional basketball coach and former collegiate player who is the head coach for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Professional career San Antonio Spu ...

. On October 25, 2023, George made his NBA regular season debut against the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

, putting up eight points, two rebounds, and two assists off the bench in a 130–114 loss. On December 2, George scored a then career high 21 points against the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

, adding six rebounds and six assists in the game. On December 12, 2023, George scored a new career-high 30 points against the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Confer ...

. On February 4, 2024, George recorded his first career double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds in a 123–108 win over the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

. On November 4, 2024, George tied his career-high of 35 points against the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

. While some speculate that George was benched due to being surpassed by Collier, the move of Collier to the starting lineup allowed Keyonte to return to his role of an off-ball scorer, where he has been thriving.

National team career

3x3 basketball 3x3 basketball (stylized as ''ƐX3'', pronounced ''three-ex-three'') is a Variations of basketball, variation of basketball played three-a-side, with one Backboard (basketball), backboard and in a basketball court, half-court setup. This basketba ...

, George represented the United States at the 2021 FIBA 3x3 Under-18 World Cup in Hungary. He was named MVP after averaging a tournament-high 8.2 points per game and leading his team to a gold medal.

Career statistics

NBA

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Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

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College

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References

External links

Baylor Bears bioUSA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:George, Keyonte 2003 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen American men's basketball players Basketball players from Denton County, Texas Baylor Bears men's basketball players IMG Academy alumni McDonald's High School All-Americans Sportspeople from Lewisville, Texas Shooting guards Utah Jazz draft picks Utah Jazz players