Chris Commons (basketball)

Chris Commons

Commons with the Express in 2016
No. 24 – Saint John Mill Rats
Position Forward
League NBL Canada
Personal information
Born (1984-12-08) December 8, 1984
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight 220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school Central Catholic (Canton, Ohio)
College
NBA draft 2009 / Undrafted
Playing career 2009–present
Career history
2009–2010 Al Ittihad
2010 BSV Wulfen
2010–2011 Brunei Barracudas
2011–2012 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Steamers
2012 Korikobrat
2012–2016 Windsor Express
2016–present Saint John Mill Rats
Career highlights and awards

Christopher Earl Commons (born December 8, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Saint John Mill Rats of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL). Brought up in Toledo, Ohio, he played high school basketball at Central Catholic High School. Commons initially competed at the collegiate level for the University of Findlay before transferring to the University of South Carolina Aiken. At USC Aiken, he played in the NCAA Division II and earned all-league honors.

Upon his departure from college, Commons joined Al Ittihad in Bahrain. He then moved to Germany to play with BSV Wulfen. In 2010, he signed with the Brunei Barracudas in Southeast Asia. Commons returned to the USA in 2011 to compete for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Steamers, only to finish the season with the Finnish club Korikobrat. For the following four years, he represented the Windsor Express of Canada, where he garnered All-Star accolades and won two championships.

Early life and high school

Commons spent his childhood in Toledo, Ohio near his grandparents, but he was mainly looked after by his mother Rena.[1][2] His father worked at a charter bus company and was absent for most of the year. Chris attended the Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church three times each week with his extended family. Commons started playing basketball in fourth grade, and he supposedly tried to improve his shooting skills early on by nailing a milk crate to a tree in his yard. He also watched Chicago Bulls games on television in his bedroom.[1]

For middle school, Commons went to McTigue Junior High and played basketball on the school team. At the time, he was known as having a quiet personality, while his childhood friend and teammate Norman Mars was more verbal. Commons later attended Central Catholic High School in Canton, Ohio. In high school, he joined forces with Mars on the Central Catholic Irish basketball team, and the duo became the forefront of the team.[3] Commons had a low impact in his first two years, but he rapidly rose to stardom starting in his junior season.[1] As a senior, he was averaging team-highs of 21.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game for the Irish.[3] For the first half of his final season at Central Catholic, Commons was the top high school scorer in the city of Toledo.[1]

College career

Findlay

Commons played two seasons of college basketball with the Oilers of the University of Findlay on a full-ride scholarship.[1][4] At Findlay, he improved as a shooter and developed physically in order to succeed against stronger NCAA Division II competition.[5] On November 22, 2003, he led his team with six rebounds. Commons replicated the feat on January 29, 2004 to help the Oilers defeat Grand Valley State. In 32 games as a freshman, he averaged 7.7 points, 2.5 rebounds, and a team-high 0.8 blocks per game.[6] Commons quickly became the leader of the team during his sophomore season.[5] He debuted by scoring a career-high 30 points along with five rebounds in a win over Urbana on November 17, 2004.[7][8] Commons posted 21 points against Ferris State on December 2, helping the Oilers prevail by two points. On February 19, 2005, he added 28 points to beat Ashland.[8]

At the 2005 NCAA Division II Tournament, Commons led Findlay with 29 points and nine rebounds vs. Ferris State on March 15. The Oilers' victory put them in the Elite Eight round, but they would lose in their following contest.[8][9] Commons lifted Findlay to the No. 1 ranking in Division II, and he pushed his team to a school-best 30–4 record by the end of the season.[1][5] He averaged 15.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game as a sophomore.[8] Commons was also hoping to graduate early and double major in criminal justice and forensic science.[1]

USC Aiken

In spite of his success at Findlay, Commons was suspended indefinitely from the school's basketball program on robbery charges in August 2005. Only two weeks after his release from jail in 2007, he began receiving offers to continue his career at colleges such as Columbus State, Grand Valley State, and Northwest Missouri State. Findlay, on the other hand, was not interested in having him back.[1] He ultimately chose to finish his years in college at the University of South Carolina Aiken (USC Aiken), where he would represent the Pacers under head coach Vince Alexander.[10] The Pacers' coach was impressed by the new arrival's potential, and he "wanted to see him prove a lot of people wrong."[10] Commons reflected, "I learned a lot of lessons, I've been through a lot of tough stuff and to be where I'm at now, I'm blessed."[10]

The junior had an immediate impact on USC Aiken, debuting with a career-best 38-point effort against Mars Hill on November 17, 2007.[11] He also added 11 rebounds, four assists and two blocks, along with seven turnovers, in the win.[12][13] As of February 2016, it was the fifth-best scoring performance by a player in school history.[14] On December 1, Commons recorded 31 points and 13 rebounds vs. Armstrong Atlantic. He posted 36 points and six rebounds on January 19, 2008, against Columbus State.[12]

Personal

In August 2005, Commons was suspended indefinitely from the Findlay basketball team after being charged for robbery and complicity to commit robbery. Allegedly, he took part in three robberies, all of which involved a weapon.[15] Oilers' head coach Ron Niekamp said, "It was devastating for us to lose a player of that caliber."[1] Commons was accused of the crime along with Ronnell Scott and his cousins Carlton and John Jackson. He allowed them to use his sports utility vehicle without knowing their full intentions. Despite Commons' minimal involvement, Scott and the Jacksons largely blamed him for the incident.[1] Commons said, "I never went in any store. I didn't mastermind it. I didn't need for nothing. I was on full scholarship. I come from a well taken care of family. I didn't ask for nothing."[1] In January 2006, he began an eight-month sentence at the Correctional Reception Center near Columbus, Ohio. Commons was forced to complete 100 hours of community service, and he was ordered to four years of community control. In jail, he embraced his passion for cooking and often played basketball, scoring 69 points in one game. For one month after his release, Commons remained under house arrest.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Gay, Chris. "Commons is making most of time in Aiken". The Augusta Chronicle. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  2. ↑ "Chris Commons". PacerSports.com. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  3. 1 2 Junga, Steve. "Commons, Mars opposites but work well together". The Blade. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  4. ↑ "Chris Commons Player Profile". RealGM. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 Hackenburg, Dave. "Commons' touch asset for Findlay". The Blade. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  6. ↑ "Findlay Season Statistics 2003-04". Findlay.edu. University of Findlay. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  7. ↑ "Urbana (Ohio) vs Findlay (11/17/04)". GLIAC.org. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Findlay Season Statistics 2004-05". Finaly.edu. University of Findlay. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  9. ↑ "Commons gets 29 in romp". The Blade. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 Barnes, Matt. "Chris Commons taking advantage of second chance on life". WRDW-TV. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  11. ↑ "Local college roundup". The Augusta Chronicle. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  12. 1 2 "Chris Commons 2007-08 Season Statistics". PacerSports.com. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  13. ↑ Makin, Kenton. "USCA men starting fresh in new home". Aiken Standard. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  14. ↑ "Men's Basketball Individual Single Game Top 10 List". PacerSports.com. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  15. ↑ "University of Findlay suspends star basketball player". The Blade. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
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