Travis Mays

Travis Cortez Mays (born June 19 1968 in Ocala, Florida) is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the Sacramento Kings in the 1st round (14th overall pick) of the 1990 NBA Draft.

Mays went to Vanguard High School where he was a scholastic All-America standout, and he then proceeded to play ball and study at University of Texas 1986-1990, where he earned a B.A. in psychology. Mays and teammates Lance Blanks and Joey Wright were known as the "BMW The Ultimate Scoring Machine" during the 1989-90 basketball season. That Longhorn team advanced to the Elite Eight in the 1990 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. Travis Mays ranks second in UT men's basketball all-time scoring (2,279 points) and also is second in Southwest Conference all-time scoring. Mays' career scoring average was 18.4 ppg. He scored in double-figures in 100 of 124 career games, and is the only UT men's player in history to score more than 700 points in a season; he did that with 743 points as a junior and 772 as a senior. Mays helped lead Texas to the 1990 Final Eight, scoring 24.1 ppg.

During his rookie campaign for the Kings, He was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, averaging 14.3 ppg in 64 games during his first pro season. He spent the next two seasons with the Atlanta Hawks, where he two games into his second season ruptured both tendons in his right ankle and was out for the season, before returning for his final NBA season the next year. Mays had an NBA career scoring average of 11.1 points per game.

Mays' pro career extended to European basketball as he played in Greece, Israel, Turkey and Italy. Highlights of his European career include selection to the European All-Star Game, leading Panionios (Greece) to the European Championship final eight with 27.5 ppg, and First Team All-Star selection (1999-2001) on Italy's Siena squad. He retired as a player in 2001.

Mays spent the 2002-04 seasons (assistant) coaching and scouting for the WNBA San Antonio Silver Stars franchise. He also coached AAU boys' basketball for the Tennessee/Alabama "Pump" team in the summer of 2003.

From 2004-07, he served as assistant coach at the University of Texas, joining Jody Conradt's staff. Mays' primary duties were working with UT's guard play and recruiting.Since 2007, he is working in the same capacity at the Louisiana State University women's team.

In his years of recruiting, he was instrumental in signing (among others) Erika Arriaran, Crystal Boyd, Earnesia Williams and Brittainey Raven.

Trivia

*Mays was an Associated Press Second Team All-American as a senior.

*Against Georgia in the first round of the 1990 tourney, Mays poured in 44 points, which still stands tied for the 11th-best single game scoring effort in NCAA Tournament history.

*He was the first player in SWC history to earn back-to-back Player of the Year honors as a junior and senior (in 1989 and 1990).

*He was inducted into the University of Texas Men's Athletics Hall of Honor in 2002.

*He resides in Austin, with his wife, Mirella, and daughter, Cherrell, 13.

Career Resumé

As a player

*University of Texas: 1986-90
*Associated Press All-America (second team): 1989-90
*Southwest Conference Player of the Year: 1988-89, 1989-90
*Three-year All-Southwest Conference: 1987-90
*UT Men's Athletics Hall of Honor: 2002
*NBA: Sacramento Kings (First Round Pick): 1990
*NBA: Atlanta Hawks: 1991-93
*European Pro Leagues (Greece, Israel, Turkey and Italy): 1993-2001
*European All-Star Game: 1994, 1995
*First Team All-Star (Italy): 1999-2001

As a coach

*WNBA San Antonio Silver Stars Assistant Coach: 2002-03
*WNBA San Antonio Silver Star Head Scout: 2003-04
*Assistant Coach, University of Texas: 2004-2007
*Assistant Coach, LSU: 2007-

External links

* [http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/maystr01.html Travis Mays - NBA stats] @ Basketball-Reference.com
* [http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:kmvA_9IXScIJ:www.dailytexanonline.com/news/2004/11/11/Sports/Mays-Shows.Women.The.Way-801349.shtml+Travis+Mays&hl=en&gl=au&ct=clnk&cd=4 Google cache of "Mays shows women the way" @ dailytexanonline.com] (an article on Mays' coaching career)