Troy Leonard Baxter Jr. (born March 5, 1996) 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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for the

Canterbury Rams The Canterbury Rams are a New Zealand basketball team based in Christchurch. The Rams compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Cowles Stadium. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as The Wheeler Motor Can ...

of the New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL). He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

UNLV Runnin' Rebels The UNLV Runnin' Rebels are the men's basketball team that represent the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in the Mountain West Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); it plays at the Thomas & Mack Center on campus. As ...

Florida Gulf Coast Eagles The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (also FGCU) refer to the fifteen intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Florida Gulf Coast University, located in Fort Myers, Florida in intercollegiate athletics, including men and women's basketball, cross ...

and

Morgan State Bears The Morgan State Bears are the twelve varsity sports teams representing Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in th ...

High school career

Baxter attended Oldsmar Christian School in

Oldsmar, Florida Oldsmar is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 13,591. The Oldsmar name dates to April 12, 1916 when automobile pioneer Ransom E. Olds purchased of land by the northern part of T ...

. He saw his stock rise as he played for Team Breakdown in the Under Armour Association in 2015. Baxter committed to play

for the

South Florida Bulls The South Florida Bulls (also known as the USF Bulls) are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of South Florida. USF competes in NCAA Division I and is a member of the American Athletic Conference for all sports besides sai ...

on May 1, 2015. Baxter averaged 17 points, 7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks as a senior during the 2015–16 season. He was rated as a four-star recruit and ranked 90th in the

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

100. Baxter won the 2016 American Family Insurance High School Slam Dunk Contest. On August 27, 2016, it was reported that Baxter had been released from his

letter of intent A letter of intent (LOI or LoI, or Letter of Intent) is a document outlining the understanding between two or more parties which they intend to formalize in a legally binding agreement. The concept is similar to a heads of agreement, term sh ...

with South Florida. On September 1, 2016, he committed to the

College career

UNLV (2016–2017)

Baxter averaged 4.3 points and 2.3 rebounds per game during his freshman season with the UNLV Runnin' Rebels. His playing time did not meet his expectations and the Runnin' Rebels only won four games in conference play. On March 30, 2017, Baxter announced that he would not return to the Runnin' Rebels.

Florida Gulf Coast (2017–2019)

On June 20, 2017, Baxter committed to play for the

. He had to sit out the 2017–18 due to

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athlete, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic sports, ...

(NCAA) transfer rules. Baxter treated practice sessions as his game time and credits the period with helping him develop a better feel for basketball. Baxter averaged 7.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.1 blocks per game during the 2018–19 season. On April 5, 2019, he declared for the

2019 NBA draft The 2019 NBA draft was held on June 20, 2019. It took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, i ...

. He did not sign with an agent and was eligible to return to college. Baxter elected to return after not liking his draft chances but announced his intention to transfer.

Morgan State (2019–2021)

Baxter desired to transfer to a team with coaches that had experience sending players to the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

(NBA). He chose the

for their head coach

Kevin Broadus Kevin Levoin Broadus (born January 30, 1964) is an American college basketball coach and currently the head coach at Morgan State. He is the former head coach at Binghamton University, where he resigned after an NCAA Investigation. Playing caree ...

who had coached 12 future NBA players during his college career. Baxter averaged 10.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game during the 2019–20 season. His 1.9 blocks per game were the second highest in the

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the National ...

(MEAC). Baxter averaged 15.5 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game during the 2020–21 season. He was selected to the All-MEAC First Team and the All-Defensive Team. He won the 2021 Great Clips Slam Dunk Championship and became the first player to win slam dunk titles in high school and college. On August 9, 2021, Baxter was named as the MEAC Male Student-Athlete of the Year for his academic and extracurricular work.

Professional career

NBA G League (2021–2022)

After going undrafted in the

2021 NBA draft The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. With the first overall pick, the Detroit Pistons selected Cade Cunningham. The NB ...

, Baxter joined 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 league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on Januar ...

for the

2021 NBA Summer League The 2021 NBA Summer League was an off-season competition held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on the campus of University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The summer league cons ...

. On October 15, 2021, he signed a contract with the Bulls, but was waived the next day. Baxter joined the

Windy City Bulls The Windy City Bulls are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, and are affiliated with the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls play their home games at Now Arena, from Chicago. It became the thirt ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...

as an affiliate player. Baxter was waived by Windy City on February 1, 2022. He was then acquired by the

Wisconsin Herd The Wisconsin Herd are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and are affiliated with the Milwaukee Bucks. The Herd play their home games at Oshkosh Arena. History On June 29, 2016, it was annou ...

on February 2; waived on February 6; acquired by the

Grand Rapids Gold The Grand Rapids Gold are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and are affiliated with the Denver Nuggets. The Gold play their home games at Van Andel Arena. They began play as the Anaheim ...

on February 14; waived on March 3; and then acquired by the

Fort Wayne Mad Ants The Fort Wayne Mad Ants are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and are affiliated with the Indiana Pacers. The team plays their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. The Mad ...

on March 18.

Overseas (2022–present)

In May and June 2022, Baxter played eight games for Indios de San Francisco of the Dominican

Liga Nacional de Baloncesto The Liga Nacional de Baloncesto (LNB) is the top men's professional basketball league in the Dominican Republic. Established in 2005, six teams compete annually between September and October. History The league was founded on September 6, 2004 ...

(LNB). In October 2022, Baxter had a three-game stint with Deportivo San José of the

Liga Sudamericana de Básquetbol The Liga Sudamericana de Básquetbol (LSB), or FIBA Liga Sudamericana de Básquetbol (Portuguese: ''Liga Sul-Americana de Basquete'', English: ''South American Basketball League''), also commonly known as FIBA South American League, is the secon ...

during the 2022 season. In November and December 2022, Baxter had a four-game stint in Lebanon with Antranik. He then moved to Mongolia in January 2023 to play for Khatsaga. On April 4, 2023, Baxter signed with the

for the

2023 New Zealand NBL season The 2023 NBL season was the 42nd season of the National Basketball League. For the third year in a row, the league fielded 10 teams. The regular season commenced on 6 April in Pukekohe, with the Franklin Bulls hosting the Hawke's Bay Hawks at Fr ...

Personal life

Baxter is the son of Dianna and Troy Baxter Sr. He has a daughter who was born in June 2020. Baxter cites

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is widely considered one of the greatest pl ...

as his idol due to his activism.

References

External links

College statisticsMorgan State Bears bioFlorida Gulf Coast Eagles bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baxter, Troy 1996 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportspeople African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Lebanon American expatriate basketball people in New Zealand American expatriate basketball people in Paraguay American expatriate basketball people in the Dominican Republic American men's basketball players Basketball players from Tallahassee, Florida Canterbury Rams players Florida Gulf Coast Eagles men's basketball players Fort Wayne Mad Ants players Forwards (basketball) Grand Rapids Gold players Morgan State Bears basketball players UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball players Windy City Bulls players Wisconsin Herd players