Ahmad Starks (born September 11, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Pelister of the Macedonian First League. Starks played college basketball for both Oregon State University and the University of Illinois.
 Starks playing for Illinois in 2014 | |
| No. 3 – Pelister | |
|---|---|
| Position | Point guard |
| League | Macedonian First League |
| Personal information | |
| Born | September 11, 1992 Chicago, Illinois |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) |
| Listed weight | 170 lb (77 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Whitney Young (Chicago, Illinois) |
| College |
|
| NBA draft | 2015: undrafted |
| Playing career | 2015–present |
| Career history | |
| 2015–2016 | Eco Örebro |
| 2017 | North-West Tasmania Thunder |
| 2017–2019 | KW Titans |
| 2019–present | Pelister |
High school career edit
As a junior, Starks helped lead Whitney M. Young Magnet High School to a 4A Illinois High School Boys Basketball Championship with a 69–66 victory over Waukegan High School.[1]
After his official visit to Oregon State, Starks verbally committed to the program and former head coach Craig Robinson in August 2008.[2] During his recruitment, Starks considered offers from Northwestern, Valparaiso and Illinois-Chicago and received interest from Marquette, Purdue, Stanford, Virginia and Xavier.[2] During his senior season, Starks averaged 16.1 points, 6.1 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 3.1 steals, leading Whitney Young to another Illinois Class 4A State Championship appearance, only to fall to Simeon Career Academy.[3]
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ahmad Starks PG |
Chicago, IL | Whitney Young | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | 145 lb (66 kg) | Aug 4, 2008 | |
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 88
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| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 145 Rivals: 134 | ||||||
Sources:
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College career edit
After three seasons at Oregon State, Starks finished as the all-time career leader in three-pointers and single season three-pointers.[4] Starks started in 73 career games at Oregon State and averaged 10.4 points, 2.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.0 steal as a junior.[4] After his junior season, Starks announced his decision to transfer to aid his ailing grandmother. In May 2013, Starks committed to transfer to play at the University of Illinois.[4] Starks was relegated to take a redshirt year during the 2013–14 season as his hardship waiver request was denied by the NCAA.[5] As a redshirt senior, Starks started in 20 games for Illinois during the 2014–15 season and averaged 7.7 points a game.[6]
Professional career edit
Starks played with Eco Örebro of the Basketligan in Sweden during the 2015–2016 season and averaged 15.6 points per game.[6] In April 2017, Starks signed with North-West Tasmania Thunder of the South East Australian Basketball League.[7] In December 2017 Starks signed with the KW Titans of the National Basketball League of Canada.[8]
References edit
- ^ Ryan, Shannon (October 1, 2013). "Illini transfer, Young grad Starks to sit out season". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
- ^ a b Hampton, Kevin (November 11, 2009). "Starks makes it official and signs with OSU men's basketball team". Corvallis Gazette Times. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
- ^ Fredericks, Scoot (March 24, 2010). "Second-half dominance vaults Young back to state semifinals". beverlyreview.net. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
- ^ a b c Powers, Scott (May 28, 2013). "Ahmad Starks heads to Illini". ESPN. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
- ^ Borzello, Jeff (October 1, 2013). "NCAA denies hardship waiver for Illinois guard Ahmad Starks". CBS Sports. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
- ^ a b Worden, Josh (March 6, 2016). "Where are they now: Ahmad Starks". Orange Media Network. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
- ^ Fair, Alex (April 13, 2017). "North-West Thunder sign Starks as import replacement". The Advocate. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
- ^ "Titans add point guard Starks, release Hill". Metroland Media. December 6, 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2018.