T. J. Cline

Timothy Joseph "T. J." Cline (born July 22, 1994) is an American-Israeli professional basketball player for Hapoel Holon of the Israeli Premier League. A power forward/center, he played college basketball at the University of Richmond. Cline is the son of Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame player Nancy Lieberman.

T. J. Cline
Cline with Richmond, 2015
No. 6 – Hapoel Holon
PositionPower forward / Center
LeagueIsraeli Premier League
FIBA Champions League
Personal information
Born (1994-07-22) July 22, 1994
Plano, Texas
NationalityAmerican / Israeli
Listed height6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
High schoolPlano West (Plano, Texas)
College
NBA draft2017 / Undrafted
Playing career2017–present
Career history
2017Galatasaray
2017–presentHapoel Holon
Career highlights and awards

College career

After playing three years of junior varsity basketball at Plano West Senior High School, Cline re-made his game (and grew four inches to 6'8") and starred his senior season, earning conference offensive player of the year honors. He was able to obtain a NCAA Division I scholarship to Niagara. As a freshman, he earned Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference all-rookie team. When coach Joe Mihalich left Niagara for Hofstra, Cline chose to transfer to Richmond.[1]

At Richmond, Cline built a reputation as a scorer. In his senior season, he averaged 18.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. A skilled passer, Cline averaged 5.7 assists per game, unusual for a player his size. At the close of the year, Cline became the second Spiders player to be named Atlantic 10 Player of the Year.[2]

Despite playing only three seasons at Richmond, Cline finished his career ranked eighth in points and seventh in assists in Spider history.

Professional career

Galatasaray (2017)

On August 6, 2017, Cline signed with Turkish team Galatasaray for the 2017–18 season.[3] He parted ways with Galatasaray on November 15 after seeing action in five games.

Hapoel Holon (2017–present)

2017–18 season

On November 15, 2017, Cline signed a two-year deal with Israeli team Hapoel Holon.[4][5] On November 23, 2017, Cline received an Israeli passport.[6] On February 15, 2018, Cline won the Israeli Cup with Holon after beating perennial cup holders Maccabi Tel-Aviv, 86–84 in the final game of the competition. On March 4, 2018, Cline recorded a season-high 16 points, shooting 7-for-8 from the field, along with four rebounds and two assists in a 105–88 win over Maccabi Ashdod.[7] Cline helped Holon reach the 2018 Israeli League Final, where they eventually lost to Maccabi Tel Aviv.

2018–19 season

On July 2, 2018, Cline joined the Milwaukee Bucks for the 2018 NBA Summer League,[8] where he averaged 3.2 points and 4 rebounds in 14 minutes per game.

On March 5, 2019, Cline recorded a career-high 19 points, shooting 8-of-12 from the field, along with four rebounds and two assists in an 85–81 win over Balkan.[9] In 20 Israeli League games, he averaged 9.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. Cline helped Holon reach the 2019 FIBA Europe Cup Semifinals, where they eventually were eliminated by Dinamo Sassari.

2019–20 season

On July 16, 2019, Cline re-signed with Holon for the 2019–20 season.[10] On October 5, 2019, Cline recorded an Israeli League career-high 18 points, shooting 7-of-12 from the field, along with eight rebounds and seven assists in an 89–75 win over Hapoel Tel Aviv.[11] Two days later, he was named Israeli League Round 1 MVP.[12] He was named to the Basketball Champions League Team of the Week on January 16, 2020, after contributing 18 points, 10 rebounds, and two assists in a win over SIG Strasbourg.[13]

Israel national team

Cline is a member of the Israeli national basketball team. On February 21, 2019, Cline made his first appearance for the Israeli team in an 81–77 win over Germany, recording 14 points and five rebounds off the bench.[14]

Personal life

Cline is the son of Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame player Nancy Lieberman.[1]

References
  1. Auerbach, Nicole (February 13, 2015). "Richmond's T.J. Cline, Nancy Lieberman's son, creates own identity". USA Today. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  2. O'Connor, John (March 7, 2017). "A-10 honors Spiders T.J. Cline, De'Monte Buckingham as player, rookie of year". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  3. "Galatasaray signs rookie big man Cline". Eurocupbasketball.com. August 6, 2017. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
  4. "TJ Cline signs with Hapoel Holon". Sportando.com. November 15, 2017. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
  5. "ממשיכה להתחזק: טי.ג'יי קליין חתם בחולון". basket.co.il (in Hebrew). November 15, 2017. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
  6. "טי ג'יי קליין קיבל אזרחות ישראלית, יירשם לליגה". One.co.il (in Hebrew). November 23, 2017. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  7. "Winner League, Game 18: UNET Holon Vs Maccabi Ashdod". basket.co.il. March 4, 2018. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
  8. "Bucks Announce 2018 Summer League Roster". NBA.com. July 2, 2018. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  9. "UNET Holon v Balkan BC boxscore - FIBA Europe Cup 2018-19". FIBA.Basketball. March 5, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  10. "טי.ג'יי קליין ממשיך לעונה שלישית בחולון". basket.co.il (in Hebrew). July 16, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  11. "Winner League, Game 1: U-NET Holon Vs Hapoel TA". basket.co.il. October 5, 2019. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  12. "מצטיין המחזור הראשון: טי.ג'יי קליין". basket.co.il (in Hebrew). October 7, 2019. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  13. "BCL Team of the Week: J. Brown, Hazer, Ulmer, Cline and Hankins". Eurohoops. January 16, 2020. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  14. "Israel v Germany boxscore - FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers". fiba.basketball. February 21, 2019. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.