Tanner John Groves (born May 22, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Cairns Taipans of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for the Eastern Washington Eagles and Oklahoma Sooners.

Tanner Groves
Cairns Taipans
PositionPower forward / center
LeagueNBL
Personal information
Born (1999-05-22) May 22, 1999 (age 24)
Spokane, Washington, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight240 lb (109 kg)
Career information
High schoolShadle Park
(Spokane, Washington)
College
NBA draft2023: undrafted
Playing career2023–present
Career history
2023–2024Anwil Włocławek
2024Xinjiang Flying Tigers
2024SC Rasta Vechta
2024–presentCairns Taipans
Career highlights and awards

Early life and high school career edit

Groves was born in Spokane, Washington.[1] He attended Shadle Park High School, where he was named All-State and All-Greater Spokane League as a senior after averaging 18.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game.[2]

College career edit

Groves redshirted his true freshman season.[3] He played mostly off the bench as a redshirt freshman and sophomore before becoming a starter as a redshirt junior. He was named the Big Sky Conference Player of the Year for the 2020–21 season after averaging 17.9 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.[4] On April 18, 2021, he transferred to Oklahoma.[5] In 2021–22, he started in all 34 games for the Sooners, averaging 11.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists per game and shooting over 38 percent from three. In 2022–23, he averaged 10.2 points, 7.2 boards and 1.1 blocks per game, recording the team-high six double-doubles.[6]

Professional career edit

After going undrafted in the 2023 NBA draft, Groves joined the Oklahoma City Thunder for the 2023 NBA Summer League.[7] He started the 2023–24 season in Poland with Anwil Włocławek, leaving in early January 2024 to join the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in China.[8] In February 2024, he joined German team SC Rasta Vechta.[9]

On May 7, 2024, Groves signed with the Cairns Taipans in Australia for the 2024–25 NBL season.[6]

Career statistics edit

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

College edit

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2017–18 Eastern Washington   Redshirt
2018–19 Eastern Washington 28 2 8.6 .417 .385 .650 2.1 .3 .1 .6 2.8
2019–20 Eastern Washington 30 1 9.9 .589 .424 .636 2.8 .3 .1 .6 5.1
2020–21 Eastern Washington 24 24 27.0 .560 .349 .778 8.0 1.3 .3 1.1 17.2
2021–22 Oklahoma 34 34 25.0 .532 .381 .729 5.8 1.6 .4 .4 11.6
2022–23 Oklahoma 32 32 25.4 .508 .286 .724 7.2 1.4 .8 1.1 10.2
Career 148 93 19.3 .532 .353 .733 5.1 1.0 .3 .7 9.2

References edit

  1. ^ "Tanner Groves". goeags.com. Archived from the original on March 24, 2022.
  2. ^ "All in the family: Groves name synonymous with Shadle Park athletics". The Spokesman-Review. January 24, 2018.
  3. ^ "EWU's Groves brothers thriving as each other's biggest fans on the court".
  4. ^ "Tanner Groves the latest Eastern Washington player to be named Big Sky MVP". The Spokesman-Review. March 8, 2021.
  5. ^ Borzello, Jeff (April 18, 2021). "Eastern Washington transfer Tanner Groves commits to Oklahoma to play basketball, sources say". ESPN. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Taipans welcome Tanner Groves". Taipans.com. May 7, 2024. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  7. ^ "Two Former Oklahoma Players Land NBA Free Agent Deals". SI.com. June 23, 2023. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
  8. ^ "Tanner Groves". eurobasket.com. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  9. ^ "NEUE POWER AUF FORWARD: TANNER GROVES KOMMT!". rasta-vechta.de (in German). February 21, 2024. Retrieved May 7, 2024.

External links edit