Marcus Jerome Sasser Jr. (born September 21, 2000) 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

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

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

Houston Cougars The Houston Cougars are the athletic teams representing the University of Houston. Informally, the Houston Cougars have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. Houston's nickname was suggested by early physical education inst ...

High school career

Sasser played basketball for Red Oak High School in

Red Oak, Texas Red Oak is a city in Ellis County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The population was 10,769 at the 2010 census, up from 4,301 at the 2000 census. The North Central Texas Council of Governments projects tha ...

under the coaching of his uncle,

Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece is featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Med ...

. As a senior, he was named District 14-5A

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

and Class 5A All-State. Sasser committed to playing college basketball for

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

over offers from

Colorado State Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. It was founded in 1870 as Colorado Agr ...

, SMU and

UTEP The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas, United States. Founded in 1913 as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, it is the third oldest academic component of the University of Texas Syste ...

College career

After struggling at first, Sasser joined Houston's starting lineup in the second half of his freshman season. On February 15, 2020, he scored a season-high 26 points in a 73–72 overtime loss to SMU. As a freshman, Sasser averaged 8.1 points and shot 35.2 percent from three-point range. He was named to the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

(AAC) All-Freshman Team. In his sophomore season debut on November 25, Sasser scored 25 points, making seven three-pointers, in an 89–45 victory over Lamar. On January 9, 2021, he scored 28 points with eight three-pointers in a 71–50 win over

Tulane The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it be ...

. As a sophomore, Sasser averaged 13.7 points and 2.6 rebounds per game, helping Houston reach the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. He was named to the Second Team All-AAC. On December 24, 2021, Sasser announced that an injury to his toe would end his 2021–22 season. At the time, he led Houston with 17.7 points per game.

Professional career

Detroit Pistons (2023–present)

Sasser was drafted 25th overall by the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division of the ...

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 ...

. On draft day, his rights were traded to the

Career statistics

NBA

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Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, 71 , , 11 , , 19.0 , , .428 , , .375 , , .879 , , 1.8 , , 3.3 , , .6 , , .2 , , 8.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 57 , , 1 , , 14.2 , , .463 , , .382 , , .843 , , 1.2 , , 2.3 , , .6 , , .1 , , 6.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 128 , , 12 , , 16.9 , , .441 , , .378 , , .863 , , 1.5 , , 2.9 , , .6 , , .1 , , 7.5

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 30 , , 17 , , 23.8 , , .363 , , .352 , , .758 , , 2.4 , , 1.7 , , .6 , , .1 , , 8.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 29 , , 28 , , 31.9 , , .380 , , .335 , , .852 , , 2.6 , , 2.2 , , 1.4 , , .0 , , 13.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",

, 12 , , 12 , , 32.0 , , .437 , , .437 , , .744 , , 2.8 , , 2.6 , , 2.2 , , .1 , , 17.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , 36 , , 30.8 , , .438 , , .384 , , .848 , , 2.8 , , 3.1 , , 1.6 , , .2 , , 16.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 107 , , 93 , , 29.3 , , .406 , , .369 , , .824 , , 2.7 , , 2.4 , , 1.3 , , .1 , , 13.6

Personal life

Sasser's father, Marcus Sr., played basketball for

Frank Phillips College Frank Phillips College, formerly Borger Junior College District, is a public community college in Borger, Texas. The college also manages the Allen Campus in Perryton in Ochiltree County, the Dalhart Center in Hartley County, and the Cosmeto ...

. His uncles, Jeryl and

, were

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

college players and played in the

(NBA). Sasser's great-grandfather, John Barber, played in the NBA.

References

External links

Houston Cougars bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sasser, Marcus 2000 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Dallas Detroit Pistons players Houston Cougars men's basketball players Memphis Grizzlies draft picks Shooting guards