- Gabe Pruitt
Infobox NBA Player
name = Gabe Pruitt
caption =
position =Point guard /Shooting guard
nickname = Smilin' Gabe
height_ft = 6
height_in = 4
weight_lb = 170
league =NBA
team =Boston Celtics
number = 13
nationality = USA
birth_date = birth date and age|1986|4|19
birth_place = Los Angeles,California
college = Southern California
highschool = Westchester HS
(Los Angeles,California )
draft = 2nd round, 32nd overall
draft_year = 2007
draft_team =Boston Celtics
career_start = 2007
career_end =
former_teams =
awards = 1-time NBA Champion
(2008)2004 PARADEAll-America nGabriel Michael Pruitt (born
April 19 ,1986 in Los Angeles,California ), commonly referred to as Gabe Pruitt, is an American professionalbasketball player with the NBA'sBoston Celtics .High school
In High school, he averaged 22 points per game as a senior at Westchester High School in Westchester, California in 2004. He was a
Parade Magazine fourth team All-America selection, and earnedRoundball All-America,Student Sports All-America special mention,Los Angeles Times All-City and South Bay/Westside first team and South BayDaily Breeze Player of the Year honors. He was listed as the No. 20 prep player in the country by Basketball Times after his senior year, and was considered among the top 20 prep guards byAthlon Sports andInsiders.com in his senior year in 2004.College
2004-2005
He earned team MVP honors along with fellow freshman Nick Young. He led the Trojans in points (356), scoring average (12.3), three point average (.450), assists (92), and steals (56) earning him selection to the All-Pac-10 freshman team. His three-point field-goal percentage set a school record and he hit at a .547 clip (41-of-75) in the latter half of the season. He was among the all-time Trojan top-10 freshmen in points (fifth) average (T-fourth), field goals (seventh), field-goals attempted (eighth), field-goal percentage (the ninth-best ever by a freshman guard), three-pointers (1st), three-pointers attempted (second), three-pointer percentage (first), free-throw percentage (ninth), assists (fifth) and steals (second). He scored in double-digits in 20 of 29 of his games, including a season-high of 23 twice, both against Stanford at home on
January 22 and at Stanford onFebruary 27 . In the home game v. Stanford, he made a season high of seven three-pointers out of 11 attempted. This tied him withAnthony Pendleton who had achieved this feat onDecember 9 ,1987 . He had a season-best eight assists in his game v. San Diego onDecember 11 . and a high of eight rebounds v. Arizona State onFebruary 12 .2005-2006
Gabe started 25 games for the USC and finished second on that team and fifth in the Pac-10 with a 16.9 scoring average, while snagging 4.0 rebounds and having 3.1 assists per game. He was named to the All-Pac-10 first team along with teammate Nick Young; they had become the first pair of Trojans to make the team since
Duane Cooper andHarold Miner in 1992. Additionally Pruitt was selected to the NABC District 15 first team. OnDecember 3 v. BYU, he had his first career double-double, scoring 17 points with a career-high 10 rebounds. His next career high was made when he scored 36 points in a 71-69 victory at Loyola Marymount onDecember 10 , which earned him Pac-10 Player of the Week honors. From the field, Pruitt was 13-19 (68.4 percent), including 5-for-10 from three-point range. He became the 12th Trojan to score 36 points or more in a game. He had 16 points (counting 5-for-8 from outside the arc), six rebounds and assists, and four steals in a victory over North Carolina onDecember 21 . He sealed USC's win overStanford onDecember 31 by making 10 of 12free throw shots down the line, including 6-6 in the final 47 seconds of the 82-71 win at theStaples Center .He scored 30 points on 11-for-18 shooting (5-11 from three-point range) in a near-victory against Arizona State on
January 5 (at 66-65). Pruitt scored six three-pointers and made all of his 21 points in the second half of an 86-77 loss vs. Washington on the twelfth. He marked 30 points again on an 8-12 shooting (6 three-pointers made) in an 84-78 win onJanuary 28 . Pruitt became the ninth Trojan to score 30 or more points in three games or more in the same season and the first since Harold Miner in 1992 (who did this 11 times). He tallied a career-high seven steals and a game-high 25 points in a 77-70 win over Arizona onFebruary 2 . Then he missed several games from February 9 to February 25 after he suffered atibial plateau fracture in his left knee. His return to action was onMarch 2 , playing in USC's final three games. However, he only marked 29.3 percent of his shots (12-for-41). He ranked second in the Pac-10 in steals with 55 (2.2 per game). His 111 steals are among the tops of the Pac-10. Making 94 of his 117 (80.3 percent) free-throw attempts, he ranked tenth in the conference and earned the Joe Barbato Award for the best free-throw percentage on the Trojans at the team awards dinner.2006-2007
Since he was an efficient shooter, defender, and leader, Pruitt did fairly well as a for the Trojans.cite web|url=http://usctrojans.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/pruitt_gabe00.html|title=Shooting Success|accessdate = 2006-11-11|] with 131 three-pointers, Pruitt holds the record for most three pointers by a Trojan (in his first two seasons), ranking 10th all-time at USC.
Pruitt, who missed the first 13 games of the season while academically ineligible, finished third in scoring, averaging 12.5 points per game, while leading the team in assists with 113 and steals with 47 in 26 games. He also led USC in free throw shooting, hitting 80.0 percent, to win the Joe Barbato Award for the team's highest free throw percentage for his second consecutive season. Pruitt became the 32nd Trojan in history to score 1,000 points in his career, and ranks 27th all-time at USC in scoring with 1,102 points. He also stands in fourth place all-time at USC for three-pointers made with 179 while holding down the sixth spot in steals with 158.
Pruitt helped lead East Region five-seed USC to the round of Sweet Sixteen in the 2007 NCAA Tournament, where they fell to No. 1 North Carolina, 74-64. Pruitt scored in double figures in all three NCAA Tournament games against Arkansas, Kevin Durant-led Texas, and the Tar Heels, and had better than a 3:1 assist to turnover ratio (19 to 6).
On
April 27 ,2007 , Pruitt announced that he registered for the2007 NBA Draft ,cite web|url=http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/content.asp?SID=1146&CID=676205|title=Draftmate|accessdate = 2007-06-25|] following teammate and fellow junior Nick Young in declaring for the draft, whereas freshman teammateTaj Gibson declined to make himself eligible, and was eventually selected by theBoston Celtics in the 2nd round with the 32nd overall selection.NBA
2007-2008
Pruitt did not see much playing time in his first NBA season. Being the 4th string
point guard behindRajon Rondo ,Eddie House andSam Cassell , he spent most of the season playing with the Celtics' D-League affiliate, theUtah Flash .Personal life
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