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23 Jodie Meeks

Name
Jodie Meeks
Position
Guard
Class
JR
Hometown (Last School)
Norcross, GA (High)
Ht
6'4"
Wt
208
Seasons
2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09
Birthday
August 21, 1987

Jodie Meeks was born Orestes Jodie Meeks II on August 21, 1987, in Nashville, Tennesse to Orestes and Margaret Meeks.

On January 13, 2009, Meeks gained national recognition by breaking the Kentucky single-game scoring record with 54 points in a nationally televised game on ESPN against Tennessee. In the same game, he broke the university’s single-game three-point record by making 10 three-pointers.

Meeks attended Norcross High School in Norcross, Georgia. He led his team to its first state basketball championship in 2006 under coach Eddie Martin. During his senior high school season, Meeks averaged 23.6 points per game during the regular season and 28.3 points per game during the state playoffs. Meeks was named the 2006 Atlanta Journal-Constitution Player of the Year. He was also named 2006 Gwinnett Daily Post Player of the Year, 2006 Atlanta Tipoff Club Metro Player of the Year, and Player of the Month (February 2006). He was named to the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) All-Star Team and led the North Team to its first victory in over three years. He was named the North Squads’ MVP. He was also named to the All-Tournament Team at Bob Gibbons, Kingwood, The Main Event (Las Vegas), Chick-Fil-A, and Dell Curry’s Bojangles tournament. Also, he was named to the 2006 Kentucky Derby Classic all-star game and played with many of his future Kentucky teammates on April 15, 2006, against rival Louisville recruits. Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Meeks was listed as the No. 7 shooting guard and the No. 39 player in the nation in 2006.

On October 3, 2005, Meeks announced his commitment to play for Tubby Smith and Kentucky. The Wildcats probably had Meeks locked up before then. It was about 2-3 weeks previous to that, Meeks said, that he received a call from UK coach Tubby Smith, who said, “We need you.” “For coach Smith to call and say that I’m his guy, that was a dream for me,” Meeks said. “I was thrilled to hear that.” Even though Alabama and Florida had been recruiting him longer, Meeks was drawn by Kentucky’s tradition and a bond that he felt form with Smith over a short period of time.

Meeks made his college debut on November 2, 2006, in an exhibition game against Lindsey Wilson College coming off the bench. He finished the game with 17 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists. He was named CBS/Chevrolet Player of the Game during the nationally televised game against Louisville in Freedom Hall, after pouring in a career-high 18 points in the Wildcats’ win over Louisville on December 16, 2006. He was named the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Freshman of the Week three times during his freshman season. Meeks was a unanimous selection to the SEC All-Freshman team. He was also recognized among America’s best freshman selected by The Collegeinsider.com to the Freshmen All-America team. The Freshmen All-America team consists of 16 players selected by Division I coaches and NBA scouts.

Expectations were high for Meeks coming into his sophomore season, and it appeared that Meeks was going to match those expectations after scoring 34 points in an exhibition game against Pikeville College. However, injury limited him to 11 games that season. On April 2, it was announced that Meeks was diagnosed with a sports hernia.

On November 15, 2008, during his sophomore season-opener against Virginia Military Institute, Meeks scored 39 points, but the Wildcats lost 111–103. On November 28, Meeks scored 37 points in the Findlay Invitational tournament in Las Vegas against the Kansas State Wildcats. Kentucky would go on to win the tournament. Meeks had more points than the whole Kansas State team combined at half-time of that game. On December 20, Meeks scored a then-career high 46 points against Appalachian State at the annual home game for the Wildcats at Freedom Hall in Louisville. He tied Tony Delk’s record for most three-pointers in a game with 9. He set a record for the most points scored by a Wildcat in Freedom Hall with 46. He followed that performance two days later by scoring 32 points in just 28 minutes against Tennessee State University. Meeks and teammate Patrick Patterson are among UK’s more productive pairs of teammates since the days of Dan Issel and Mike Pratt in the early 1970s. On January 13, 2009, Meeks broke Kentucky’s single-game scoring record (formerly held by Dan Issel) by scoring 54 points in a 90–72 win against rival Tennessee. In that game he also broke Tony Delk’s single-game record, which he had shared, for three-pointers by making 10 of 15 attempts and was 14 of 14 from the free throw line. On February 11, 2009, Meeks made the game-winning three-point shot with 4.7 seconds left against the Florida Gators. Meeks would again break the 40-point margin on February 14, scoring 45 points against the Arkansas Razorbacks team, a performance that produced the most points scored in a game by an individual at Bud Walton Arena. Meeks also broke the record for most 3-pointers in a season at UK, with 117.

Meeks was named a unanimous selection to the All-SEC First team during his junior season and was the first player since Chuck Hayes in 2004–05 to be named AP First Team All-SEC. He was named the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) District IV Player of the Year. Meeks was named a Second Team All-American by the Associated Press (AP), the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), and by Sporting News.com. Meeks was a consensus Second Team All-American in 2008–09.

On June 15, 2009, Meeks declared his eligibility for the 2009 NBA draft and his intention to not hire an agent, leaving open the possibility of returning to Kentucky next season. In a May 28 story, Meeks stated in reference to his desire to be a first round NBA draft pick, “If I’m not first round, then I’ll go back to school.” On June 15, 2009, Meeks decided to stay in the draft and forgo his final season of eligibility at Kentucky. During the 2009 NBA draft on June 25, 2009, Meeks was drafted 41st overall by the Milwaukee Bucks.

Meeks’ best statistical season as a pro came in 2013-2014 with the Lakers, when he averaged 15.7 points per game on 40.7% shooting from deep.

On May 10, 2014, Meeks returned to Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY to receive his degree in business marketing. Since being drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in 2009, Meeks had been attending classes in the off-season at the University of Kentucky. On receiving his diploma, Meeks said: “You never know how long your career will last. Once you have a degree, you have it forever.”

College Statistics:

Per Game

Season G GS MP FG FGA FG% 2P 2PA 2P% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
2006-07 34 1 22.1 2.8 6.7 .419 1.5 3.1 .481 1.3 3.6 .364 1.8 2.0 .897 0.9 2.0 2.8 1.5 0.9 0.1 1.2 1.3 8.7
2007-08 11 5 23.2 2.5 8.0 .307 1.0 3.5 .289 1.5 4.5 .320 2.5 3.1 .794 0.7 1.9 2.6 1.5 0.5 0.1 1.1 1.7 8.8
2008-09 36 36 34.4 7.3 15.8 .463 4.1 7.8 .521 3.3 8.0 .406 5.9 6.5 .902 0.5 2.9 3.4 1.8 1.3 0.1 2.7 1.9 23.7
Career 81 42 27.7 4.8 10.9 .436 2.6 5.2 .491 2.2 5.7 .386 3.7 4.1 .890 0.7 2.4 3.0 1.6 1.1 0.1 1.8 1.6 15.4

 

Totals

Season G GS MP FG FGA FG% 2P 2PA 2P% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
2006-07 34 1 751 95 227 .419 51 106 .481 44 121 .364 61 68 .897 29 67 96 51 32 2 40 44 295
2007-08 11 5 255 27 88 .307 11 38 .289 16 50 .320 27 34 .794 8 21 29 16 6 1 12 19 97
2008-09 36 36 1237 263 568 .463 146 280 .521 117 288 .406 211 234 .902 19 103 122 63 48 5 96 69 854
Career 81 42 2243 385 883 .436 208 424 .491 177 459 .386 299 336 .890 56 191 247 130 86 8 148 132 1246

 

On This Day In UK Basketball History

On March 28, 1992, in what many called the “best NCAA Tournament game ever,” Kentucky takes defending NCAA champion Duke into overtime before losing 104-103 in the East Regional finals in Philadelphia. A last-second shot by Christian Laettner sends Duke to the Final Four, and breaks the hearts of Wildcat fans everywhere. It is Cawood Ledford’s last game as the “Voice of the Wildcats.”

 

On March 28, 1998, against Stanford, Kentucky rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit, then grabbed a 5-point overtime lead, before fending off the Cardinals to advance to the title game for the third straight season. Jeff Sheppard canned three long-range three-pointers - two in the final three minutes and one in overtime - en route to a career-high 27 points.

 

On March 28, 2014, unranked Kentucky beat No. 5 Louisville 74-69, in the 2014 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.  Aaron Harrison buried a three-pointer from the left corner with 39 seconds left that put UK ahead to stay before 41,072 in Lucas Oil Stadium.

 

On March 28, 2015, No. 1 Kentucky defeated No. 8 Notre Dame, 68-66, in the 2015 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.  With its 37-0 record on the line, Kentucky trailed Notre Dame 59-53 with 6:14 left. UK rallied in front of 19,464 fans in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena and preserved its perfect season thanks to a crucial blocked shot by Willie Cauley-Stein and two game-deciding free throws from Andrew Harrison in the final seconds.

 

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