Tari Jordan Eason ( ; born May 10, 2001) 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

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

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 Cincinnati Bearcats and the LSU Tigers. Eason was selected 17th overall in the 2022 NBA draft by the

High school career

Eason started his high school career at Garfield High School in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

under head coach Brandon Roy, and played sparingly during his first two years. For his junior season, he transferred to Federal Way High School in Federal Way, Washington, where he played alongside top recruit Jaden McDaniels. Eason returned to Garfield for his senior season as Roy came back following a one-year break. He led his team to a 3A state title, recording 21 points and 14 rebounds against Paolo Banchero and O'Dea High School in the final, and received tournament MVP. Eason averaged 23 points, eight rebounds, and three steals per game as a senior, and was named 3A Player of the Year. A four-star recruit, he committed to playing college basketball for

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

over offers from

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, 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 ...

and

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

College career

On February 26, 2021, Eason posted a freshman season-high 20 points, 13 rebounds, and three blocks in a 91–71 win over Tulane. As a freshman at Cincinnati, he averaged 7.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.3 blocks, and 1.2 steals per game, earning

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 ...

All-Freshman Team honors. For his sophomore season, Eason transferred to

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

. He was named to the First Team All- SEC as well as SEC Sixth Man of the Year. Eason averaged 16.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.9 steals per game. On March 25, 2022, he declared for the 2022 NBA draft, forgoing his remaining college eligibility.

Professional career

Houston Rockets (2022–present)

Eason was selected with the 17th overall pick by the

in the 2022 NBA draft. Eason joined the Rockets' 2022 NBA Summer League roster. In his Summer League debut, Eason tallied 14 points and 13 rebounds in a 77–91 win over the Orlando Magic. On July 18, 2022, Eason was named to the All-NBA Summer League First Team, averaging 17.2 points on 44.7 percent shooting from the field along with 1.8 steals and a block. On October 2, Eason made his preseason debut, scoring 21 points off the bench in addition to securing ten rebounds, two assists, two steals, and one block in a 134–96 win against the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

. On October 19, 2022, he made his NBA debut with an 8-point and 7-rebound performance in a 117–107 loss to the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

. On February 1, 2023, Eason scored a career-high 20 points with 13 rebounds (12 of them being offensive rebounds) and three steals in only 19 minutes of play in a 112–106 win 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 ...

Personal life

Eason has three siblings. While at LSU, he majored in advanced statistics.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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, 82 , , 5 , , 21.6 , , .448 , , .343 , , .752 , , 6.0 , , 1.1 , , 1.2 , , .6 , , 9.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 22 , , 0 , , 21.8 , , .466 , , .360 , , .636 , , 7.0 , , 1.2 , , 1.4 , , .9 , , 9.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 56 , , 16 , , 25.0 , , .489 , , .346 , , .767 , , 6.3 , , 1.2 , , 1.7 , , .9 , , 12.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 160 , , 21 , , 22.8 , , .467 , , .347 , , .744 , , 6.2 , , 1.2 , , 1.4 , , .7 , , 10.3

Playoffs

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, 7 , , 0 , , 18.9 , , .477 , , .368 , , .500 , , 4.3 , , .7 , , 1.1 , , 1.0 , , 7.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 7 , , 0 , , 18.9 , , .477 , , .368 , , .500 , , 4.3 , , .7 , , 1.1 , , 1.0 , , 7.6

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2020–21 , style="text-align:left;",

, 23 , , 8 , , 19.6 , , .462 , , .241 , , .574 , , 5.9 , , 1.3 , , 1.2 , , 1.3 , , 7.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 4 , , 24.4 , , .521 , , .359 , , .803 , , 6.6 , , 1.0 , , 1.9 , , 1.1 , , 16.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 56 , , 12 , , 22.4 , , .504 , , .327 , , .757 , , 6.3 , , 1.1 , , 1.6 , , 1.2 , , 13.0

References

External links

LSU Tigers bioCincinnati Bearcats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eason, Tari 2001 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen American men's basketball players Basketball players from Seattle Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball players Garfield High School (Seattle) alumni Houston Rockets draft picks Houston Rockets players LSU Tigers men's basketball players Power forwards Basketball players from Portsmouth, Virginia