| 26 July 2010
The moment Pooh Jeter has been waiting over four years for has arrived. He finally made it to the Association.
"God is good all the time and all the time God is good. Dreams come true y’all. Always Believe. And thanks for the messages. Tears of Joy!!,” Jeter posted on his Twitter account moments after signing with the Sacramento Kings.
His contract is fully guaranteed for the 2010-2011 season.
And it’s been a long time coming.
Since leaving the University of Portland in 2006 - where he ranks second all-time in scorering in team history - Jeter has been bouncing around various NBA Summer League teams, the NBADL and Euroleague, all while trying to work his way into the league.
It looked like Jeter was going to get his first shot last season when the Trail Blazers invited him to play in the Las Vegas Summer League. The undersized guard was told he and Jerryd Bayless would be the two featured point guards in Vegas. There were even rumors floating around that Sergio Rodriguez would be traded away during the offseason, opening up a third-string point guard roster spot, and Jeter gave the team his verbal commitment.
Rodriguez eventually was traded away draft night 2009 – to the Sacramento Kings ironically enough - but the Blazers also drafted Australian point guard Patty Mills with the 55th pick in the 2nd round leving Jeter out of a job in Portland
From there, Jeter went back to Spain to play for Unicaja Malaga and then moved on to Hapoel Jerusalem before the end of the season (which were all chronicled in his blog for Draft Express).
Standing at only 5’11 and weighing just 175 pounds, Jeter has often been criticized for being too small to perform at a high level in the NBA. However, with the recent success of similarly-sized players like Aaron Brooks, Jose Juan Barea, D.J. Augustin, Nate Robinson and Brandon Jennings, teams have been more open towards undersized point guards. With lightning-quickness, Jeter as the ability to change the pace of the game much like those aforementioned guards.
But will Jeter’s transition to the NBA be as quick in Sacramento, where he joins Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans and veteran Beno Udrih, as the Kings third-option at the point.
With his arrival in the league, Jeter now becomes just the sixth University of Portland player to sign with an NBA team.
Others before him included Greg Anthony, Darwin Cook, Andy Johnson, Ray Scott, and Jose Slaughter. While playing for the Pilots, Jeter had career averages of 14.9 points, 3.0 assists, 1.4 steals, and shot 42.0% from the field and 37.3% from beyond the arc. He also played in a total of 115 games during his 2002-2006 collegiate career.
Jeter’s most recent venture was playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Las Vegas Summer League. He was truly able to demonstrate his leadership ability during their five games and averaged 14.4 points and 5.4 assists while shooting 48% from the field.
The highlight from Vegas for the Cavs came when Jeter hit a three-pointer with only eight seconds left in a game against the Chicago Bulls to push the team to an 81-80 win, keeping the Cavs unbeaten after three games.
Now there is a new highlight for Jeter to add to his resume: NBA point guard.
photo: hoopsmarket
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