- Joe Crawford (basketball player)
Infobox NBA Player
name = Joe Crawford
caption =
league = NBA
team =Los Angeles Lakers
number = 6
position =Shooting guard
draft = 2nd round, 58th overall
draft_year = 2008
draft_team = Los Angeles Lakers
career_start = 2008
height_ft = 6
height_in = 5
weight_lb = 207
nationality = American
birth_date = birth date and age|1986|6|17
birth_place = Detroit,Michigan
highschool = Renaissance, Detroit
college = Kentucky
awards =Joseph Reshard Crawford II (born June 17, 1986 in
Detroit, Michigan ) is an American professionalbasketball player. A formershooting guard for the University of Kentucky men's basketball team, he was selected as the 58th overall pick by theLos Angeles Lakers in the2008 NBA Draft . He signed with the Lakers on August 27, 2008. [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3556514 Crawford, Lakers' lone draftee, comes to terms] ]High school and recruitment
Crawford attended
Renaissance High School in Detroit, where he led his team to a perfect 27-0 record and a state title. [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=22100 ESPN.com Player Profile - Joe Crawford] ] He was named aMcDonald's All-American in 2004. Crawford originally committed to play for theUniversity of Michigan , [ [http://rivalshoops.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=12300 Rivals.com Basketball Recruiting - Joe Crawford] ] but reopened his recruitment and chose to attend theUniversity of Kentucky as part of a freshman class that also featured All-AmericansRajon Rondo andRandolph Morris .College career
Seeing minimal playing time behind
Western Kentucky University transferPatrick Sparks and fellow freshmanRamel Bradley , Crawford asked to be released from his scholarship mid-way through his freshman year. After meeting with Wildcat coachTubby Smith , however, Crawford did an about-face and returned to the team.Crawford became a bigger part of the team's rotation in his sophomore season, averaging 10.2 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. [ [http://sportsline.com/collegebasketball/players/playerpage/524758 CBS Sportsline Player Profile - Joe Crawford] ]
During his junior year Crawford continued to improve. He started 32 of 34 games and averaged 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game. He was the leading scorer in 8 games and set a new career high in an overtime loss against Georgia with 29 points.
Crawford became the 54th Wildcat to score 1,000 points in his career [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=3146892 Younger Crawford, Indiana get best of Kentucky] ] on December 1, 2007, against North Carolina. As of March 20, he is the 19th all-time leading scorer at Kentucky, with 1,448 points.
On March 20, 2008, Crawford closed his career with a loss to Marquette in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. Crawford was the game's high scorer, matching a career-best with 35 points before fouling out. [ [http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=284000023 McNeal, Marquette get by Kentucky, nab first tourney win since 2003] ]
References
External links
* [http://ukathletics.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=37&url_article_id=13140&change_well_id=2 Official Kentucky bio]
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