Kent Bazemore has come quite a long way in his young NBA career. After stops on the west coast with the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers, Bazemore headed east to play with the Atlanta Hawks. Since his debut with the team in 2014, he’s made the most out of an opportunity not many receive.
Seeing his averages increase as each season went on, he established himself as a prototypical ‘3 and D’ wingman, perfect for today’s NBA game. He’s also very athletic with the ability to jump out of the gym to put down some dunks and block any shots in his range.
Baze had a fantastic second season with Atlanta which resulted in his new 70 million dollar contract with the team over the summer to stay on as the team’s starting wingman for the foreseeable future. But before Baze goes forward, he’s going to be going back home and getting honored by his alma mater, Old Dominion University.
Kent will have his number 24 jersey retired by the school on December 10th.
The school released the following in a statement made earlier today.
Kent Bazemore, a 6’5″ shooting guard from Kelford, N.C., will become the eighth Old Dominion University men’s basketball player to have his jersey retired on Dec. 10, 2016, when the Monarchs take on VCU at the Ted Constant Convocation Center, as announced by ODU Director of Athletics, Dr. Wood Selig on Friday afternoon.
“Wow, this is truly an honor to join such a pristine list,” said Bazemore. “This is an amazing day. I really appreciate everything Old Dominion has done for me. I will always be a Monarch for life. I am speechless right now.”
“Kent was one of the most exciting players to ever wear an ODU basketball uniform,” said Selig. “Kent possessed a unique quality of being able to ignite the Ted with a spectacular defensive play or monster dunk that would keep the arena buzzing the entire game. He was a Dean’s List student, earning his undergraduate degree as a double major while at ODU. Kent is modeling the way for current and future ODU Monarchs in all sports, as he continues to be one of our best ambassadors for ODU and Monarch Basketball. Kent is most deserving of this highest athletic honor.”
Bazemore will join Leo Anthony, Joel Copeland, Kenny Gattison, Dave Twardzik, Wilson Washington, Mark West and Odell Hodge as the only ODU men’s basketball players to have their jerseys retired. The last player to have his retired was Hodge on Feb. 13, 2010, at halftime of the George Mason game.
Bazemore was named the 2011 Lefty Driesell National Defensive Player of the Year. He was also named to the All-CAA Team in 2011 and 2012, while garnering All-Defensive Team honors in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Bazemore was named the CAA Defensive Player of the Year in 2011 and 2012.
On ODU’s all-time lists, Bazemore ranks first for most games played in a career with 140, tied for first for most wins in a career with 101, second for steals with 250 for a 1.8 average, 16th in assists with 379 in a 2.7 average and 21st for scoring with 1,416 total points for a 10.1 average.
Congrats to Kent. It’s a well-deserved honor for a guy who went undrafted, worked hard and made the most out of every opportunity.
Check out the video below released by ODU featuring Kent finding out the news of his upcoming jersey retirement.
