Jelani Gardner

Jelani Gardner

Personal information
Born	(1975-12-26) December 26, 1975 Pasadena, California
Nationality	American / French
Listed height	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight	205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High school	St. John Bosco (Bellflower, California)
College	California (1994–1996) Pepperdine (1997–1999)
NBA draft	1999: undrafted
Playing career	1999–2011
Position	Shooting guard
Coaching career	2012–present
Career history
As player:
1999	Maccabi Rishon
1999–2000	Fort Wayne Fury
2000	Grand Rapids Hoops
2000	BCJ Hamburg
2000–2001	Roanoke Dazzle
2002–2003	Roche-St Etienne
2003	Reims
2003–2004	Etendard Brest
2004	ESPE Basket Châlons-en-Champagne
2004–2006	GET Vosges
2006–2007	Townsville Crocodiles
2007	Hermine Nantes Basket
2007–2008	Universitet Yugra Surgut
2008	Trikala Aries B.C.
2010	London Lions
2011	ADA Blois
As coach:
2012–2013	La Salle College Prep
2015–2016	Bristol
2016–2017	Duarte HS
2017–2018	Blair HS
2018–2019	South Hills HS
Career highlights and awards
Second-team Parade All-American (1994)

Jelani Akil Gardner (born December 26, 1975) is an American-French basketball coach and former professional player. He is 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) in height. He played mainly at the shooting guard position, but also at the point guard and small forward positions. He played with the Milton Keynes Lions Basketball Club until he was released in January 2011.

College career

After playing high school basketball at St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, California, Gardner played college basketball at the University of California. However, when his parents became disenchanted with their son's lack of playing time, they revealed to the NCAA that Todd Bozeman, Cal's head coach, had paid them about $30,000 over a two-year period so his parents could attend Jelani's games.

After the scandal broke, Gardner transferred to Pepperdine. Bozeman was ultimately forced to resign and effectively white balled from the college ranks until 2005, and Cal was forced to forfeit every game in which Gardner played (the entire 1994–95 season and all but two games of the 1995–96 season).

Professional career

A blood test as part of a pre-NBA draft physical examination in 1995 revealed that Gardner had kidney disease, further hurting his NBA Draft stock.

Gardner played professionally with clubs such as Maccabi Rishon, the Grand Rapids Hoops, the Fort Wayne Fury, the Hamburg Tigers, the Roanoke Dazzle, Reims, Krka Novo Mesto, ESPE Basket Châlons-en-Champagne, AS Golbey-Epinal, Universitet Yugra Surgut, Trikala 2000 in his professional career.

Finally, in 2002, after playing with kidney disease for 7 years, Gardner reached the critical stage of his condition and received a kidney transplant from his mother that year.

External links

• Basketpedya.com Player Profile