Venky Jois
Venkatesha "Venky" Jois (born 7 July 1993) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Memphis Hustle of the NBA G League. He played four years of college basketball for Eastern Washington before playing professionally in Estonia, Croatia, Japan and Germany.
| No. 55 – Memphis Hustle | |
|---|---|
| Position | Power forward |
| League | NBA G League |
| Personal information | |
| Born | 7 July 1993 Melbourne, Victoria |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Listed height | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) |
| Listed weight | 230 lb (104 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Box Hill (Melbourne, Victoria) |
| College | Eastern Washington (2012–2016) |
| NBA draft | 2016 / Undrafted |
| Playing career | 2011–present |
| Career history | |
| 2011–2012 | Dandenong Rangers |
| 2016–2017 | Tartu Ülikooli |
| 2017 | Vrijednosnice Osijek |
| 2018 | Shiga Lakestars |
| 2018 | Rasta Vechta |
| 2019 | Melbourne United |
| 2019 | Super City Rangers |
| 2019–present | Memphis Hustle |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Early life
Jois was born in the Melbourne suburb of Upper Ferntree Gully. He attended Box Hill High School, where he participated in basketball, swimming, soccer, Australian rules football, cross country and athletics. He graduated in 2011. In 2011 and 2012, he played in the SEABL for the Dandenong Rangers, winning SEABL Youth Player of the Year honours in his first season after averaging 9.3 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.[1]
College career
Jois played four years of college basketball for Eastern Washington, winning Big Sky Freshman of the Year honours in 2012–13. He also garnered All-Big Sky honorable mention accolades in his first two seasons. As a junior and senior, he earned first-team All-Big Sky honours. He also earned All-Tournament team honours after helping Eastern Washington win the 2015 Big Sky Tournament.[1] In 122 career games, Jois made 120 starts and averaged 14.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.0 steals and 2.0 blocks in 32.2 minutes per game.[2]
Professional career
Jois spent his first professional season in Estonia, playing for Tartu Ülikooli during the 2016–17 season. He then split the 2017–18 season between Vrijednosnice Osijek in Croatia and Shiga Lakestars in Japan. After starting the 2018–19 season in Germany with Rasta Vechta, he left in November 2018. On 26 January 2019, he signed with Melbourne United for the rest of the 2018–19 NBL season.[3] On 3 April 2019, he signed with the Super City Rangers for the 2019 New Zealand NBL season.[4] On 2 June 2019, Jois suffered a severe hand injury in a game against the Southern Huskies.[5] On 29 June 2019, he parted ways with the Rangers.[6][7] In October 2019, he joined the Memphis Hustle of the NBA G League.[8] He missed two months with an undisclosed injury.[9] Jois averaged 5.9 points and 3.9 rebounds in 12.3 minutes per game in 18 games.[10]
References
- "EWU Athletics – Venky Jois – 2015–16". goeags.com. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
- "Venky Jois College Stats". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
- "Venky Jois Joins Melbourne United". NBL.com.au. 26 January 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
- "Player Signing announcement". facebook.com. 3 April 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
- "HUSKIES SURVIVE BIG SCARE AGAINST TOUGH RANGERS". nznbl.basketball. 2 June 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
- "RANGERS TRIO OUT FOR THE SEASON". nznbl.basketball. 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
- Rosenberg, Matthew (16 July 2019). "Ex-NBA players leave Auckland's Supercity Rangers claiming they're owed pay". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
- "Memphis Hustle announce 2019-20 training camp roster". gleague.nba.com. 26 October 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
- "Venky Jois: Returns after long absence". CBS Sports. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
- Hunt, Steven (29 March 2020). "Former EWU standout Venky Jois enjoying his home away from home in America". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 15 June 2020.