Dallas Mavericks rookie Jae Crowder looking to make it big in NBA
Jae Crowder, former Marquette Golden Eagles’ small forward, became a Dallas Maverick through the 34th pick in this year NBA draft.
With that he also became the 2nd player in this year’s draft, to follow his father’s footsteps into the world of NBA – Austin Rivers, son of the Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers being the other.
Corey Crowder, Jae’s father, played in NBA for just 4 years, and was part of Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs from 1991 to 1995. In that span, he averaged just 2.1 points in 58 games.
Corey, 43 now, could never establish himself as a player, but he later on became a writer and published a book, "Superstar for Life: A Professional and College Basketball Players Guide to Elite Performance On and Off the Court."
Like him, his son was no pre-draft sensation, but for Corey, just the thought of his son making it into the NBA is soothing;
"Just the mere fact that Jae Crowder was there in front of you for you to be able to interview him was a miracle in itself," Corey said of his son. "If you would have told me five years ago that he was going to be a draft pick
in the NBA draft, I think everybody would have probably signed me up for the crazy house because nobody could predict that."
Jae, averaged 11.8 points and 6.8 boards during his first season in college, but during his sophomore season his game took a phenomenal boost. He concluded the 2011-12 with an average of 17.5 points and 8.4 rebounds.
During his sophomore year with Marquette, Crowder netted his career high 29 points to go with 8 boards against West Virginia Mountaineers. At the end of 2012 season he became the recipient of Big East Player of the Year award.
That however was not enough to entice the top draft pick holders and he eventually signed a non-guaranteed contract with Dallas. They franchise does not have too many options at the wings at present and the field is wide open for
Jae to make his mark. He will have the likes of Shawn Marion and Coach Rick Carlisle to guide him through the process Corey will be hoping that his son can take a leaf out of his book.
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