Taj Allen Gray (born March 14, 1984) 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. He was a

player for the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

Early life

Taj played middle school AAU for Wichita Razorback under Coach Steve Winters. They were ranked #1 in Kansas and #5 in the Midwest. Gray attended Wichita High School East and as a senior led his team to the Kansas Class 6A state title, earning tournament MVP honors. He was also named Kansas High School Player of the Year after averaging 20.9 points and 15.5 rebounds and 6.4 blocks per game during his senior season.

College career

Junior college

Gray started his collegiate basketball career at

Redlands Community College Redlands Community College (Redlands) is a public community college in El Reno, Oklahoma. Student enrollment is approximately 2,200 per semester. History In 1938, El Reno Junior College, was established by an act of the El Reno Board of Educati ...

, where he was named second-team

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) is the governing association of community college, State college (disambiguation), state college, and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 sepa ...

All-America 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 ...

n as a freshman and first-team All-American as a sophomore, finishing runner-up in the NJCAA Player of the Year balloting. Averaging 18.1 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3.3 block per game, he led Redlands to a 35–2 overall record and a national runner-up finish. In addition, he led the NJCAA Tournament with 12.3 rebounds per game and was named to the all-tourney team.

Oklahoma

A sought after junior college recruit, Gray transferred to the

instead of signing with

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

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 ...

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

and

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- ...

. In his first year at OU, the

Sooners Sooners is the name given to settlers who entered the Unassigned Lands illegally in what is now the state of Oklahoma before the official start of the Land Rush of 1889. The Unassigned Lands were a part of Indian Territory that, after a lobbyi ...

went 25–8, finished as the

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 ...

co-champions and advanced to the second round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament. Gray averaged team-highs of 14.6 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, while posting a league second-best 12 double-doubles. Gray was named a first-team All-Big 12 selection by league coaches and was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. Gray was named Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year before the start of his senior season and averaged 14.2 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocked shots per games which were all team highs. He was named a first-team All-Big 12 pick by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' and was named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team.

Professional career

Although he was projected to be a second-round draft pick, Gray was not selected in the

2006 NBA draft The 2006 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2006, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. c ...

. He was subsequently invited to play for 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 ...

' summer league team, but was not signed to a contract. On August 10, 2006 Gray announced that he would play for

Cholet Basket Cholet Basket is a professional basketball club that is based in Cholet, France. The club plays in the LNB Pro A. Their home arena is La Meilleraie. Established in 1975, Cholet won its first French championship in the 2009–10 season. In 1998 and ...

ball, an A League team in the

Ligue Nationale de Basketball The Ligue nationale de basket (LNB; English: National Basketball League) is the governing body of men's professional club basketball in France. The LNB organises the first-tier Pro A and the second-tier Pro B. Additionally, the federation ann ...

, the top men's

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

professional basketball league.The Wichita Eagle
One year later, after a very good season in Cholet, he announced that he would play for

Paris Basket Racing Paris Basket Racing, or PBR, was a French professional basketball club from Paris. It was founded in 1922, as the basketball section of the sports club, multi-sports club Racing Club de Paris. The team took the name "Paris Basket Racing" in 2000. ...

for one year. Gray signed on to the French team

Chorale Roanne Chorale Roanne Basket is a professional basketball club that is based in Roanne, France. The club plays in the first division LNB Pro A. Their home arena is Halle André Vacheresse. The club was founded in 1937 and the team's colors are blue and w ...

for the 2008/2009 season where his averaging 22 ppg 11.2 rpg 3.2 blocks One year later, he signed on

CB Murcia UCAM Murcia Club Baloncesto, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as UCAM Murcia, is a professional basketball club based in Murcia, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the Champions League. Their home venue is Palacio de Deportes. The team ...

, to play in the

LEB Oro The Primera FEB, formerly known as LEB or LEB Oro, is the second basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system after the Liga ACB. It is run by the Spanish Basketball Federation, FEB. The FEB leagues are divided into three categorie ...

, the Spanish second league.

References

External links

French LNB profileESPN Player profileOklahoma Sooners ProfileRealGM profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Taj 1984 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Mexico American expatriate basketball people in Spain Basketball players from Wichita, Kansas American men's basketball players CB Murcia players Cholet Basket players Chorale Roanne Basket players Élan Chalon players Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball players Metropolitans 92 players Venados de Mazatlán (basketball) players Centers (basketball) Power forwards