Jared Jeffries is a former basketball player from Bloomington, Indiana. He played as a power forward / center for the Hoosiers between 2000 and 2002 under head coach Mike Davis. Jeffries was a key component of Indiana’s 2002 national runner-up team. After his time at Indiana University, he was drafted in the first round of the 2002 NBA Draft where he spent the next 11 years in the league. He has since retired as a player and hosts a fishing television show.
Name: Jared Jeffries
Position: Power Forward / Center
Nationality: USA
Age: 42 years old
Birthday: November 25, 1981
Hometown: Bloomington, Indiana
High School: Bloomington High School North (Bloomington, Indiana)
Jared Jeffries High School (Bloomington High School North) Career
Jeffries played for head coach Tom McKinney at Bloomington High School North, who is an Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame inductee himself.
Decorated with numerous accolades including being selected as 2000 Indiana’s Mr. Basketball, Gatorade National Player of the Year, and a McDonald’s All-American, Jeffries notably led his Bloomington North team to an Indiana high school finals game in 2000. They eventually lost to Marion (with future NBA player Zach Randolph leading all scorers with 28 points) by a final score of 56-62.
Jeffries was selected as the Class 4A recipient of the Arther L. Tester Mental Attitude Award by the IHSAA Executive Committee. During that season, Jeffries led the 25-1 Bloomington High School North team with averages of 23.9 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per conteset. He shot 57.3% from the field and over 40% from behind the arc.
Jared Jeffries Indiana University Basketball Career
Jeffries played for coach Mike Davis, who served as the interim head coach after former Indiana head coach Bob Knight was fired from his position. Immediately, Jeffries had a major impact for the team. He started every game as a freshman and he averaged 13.8 points and 6.9 rebounds per game during the 2000-2001 season. He was later named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. The Hoosiers were unfortunately knocked out of the NCAA First Round to 13-seeded Kent State after finishing third in the Big Ten with a 10-6 conference record.
Indiana’s next season was one of the biggest Cinderella stories in college basketball and Jeffries played a large role in that story. Indiana finished 19-10 in the regular season and advanced just one round in the 2002 Big Ten tournament. The resume was good enough for a five-seed in the 2002 NCAA tournament.
Photo: Doug Pensinger / Getty Images
Indiana would then go on to defeat No. 12 Utah, No. 13 UNC Wilmington, No. 3 Duke, and No. 10 Kent State to advance to the 2002 Final Four hosted in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia. The Hoosiers would eventually lose in the national championship game against the 1-seeded Maryland Terrapins with a final score of 52-64.
At the conclusion of the season, Jeffries was named the Big Ten Player of the year and he quickly decided to move on to the 2002 NBA Draft, where he was selected in the first round. He finished his Indiana career with over 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.
Overview: Defensive role player who has been unable to live up to the promise he showed out of college, partially due to injuries. Tenure in New York has been a disaster at best. Has tremendous size and length for a forward, at 6-10 without shoes and a 7-1 wingspan. A solid athlete with good quickness and leaping ability. Not physically strong, but has added some weight since entering the League. Could stand to put on some extra muscle. Not a scoring option at all, as he is a mediocre shooter and ball-handler and is very poor from the free throw line as well. Brings a solid defensive presence as his main virtue. Named the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year in 2001. Spent only two years at Indiana. Showed a lot of promise in his two seasons, earning his spot as the #11 pick of the 2002 NBA Draft. Has been unable to find a position for himself in the NBA, as his skill-level just hasn’t improved from what he showed in college. Injuries and his incredibly bad contract have completely diminished his value.
Offense: An extremely inefficient offensive player whose lack of scoring ability makes it tough to justify seeing minutes on an NBA level. Gets most of his possessions off of hustle plays, but is also asked to function as a spot up shooter from time to time. Has a decent looking jumper, but simply doesn’t have the touch on it for it be even remotely effective. Proves to be an awful jump shooter off the dribble, possibly one of the worst in the league. Gets most of his rare offense by being active in the flow of the offense. Moves well without the ball, showing good awareness. Pulls down offensive rebounds at a very high rate due to his size and athleticism, as well as the fact that he can focus solely on that due to his nonexistent role. Uses his speed to get some opportunities in transition. Not a good finisher at all due to his lack of touch at the rim. Will get some dunks and easy lay-ins, but struggles when he has to take contact. Can put the ball on the floor and go to the rim strictly with his left hand, but isn’t a good enough ball handler to consistently get there. Turns the ball over at an alarming rate on a per-possession basis. Lack of midrange game makes him very predictable. Goes to the line at a semi-decent rate, but shoots a very questionable percentage once there. Displays good court vision in half court sets, and will use his size and passing ability to get some open looks for his teammates.
Defense: A very solid defender due to his blend of quickness and length. Does a fantastic job getting a hand up on shooters. Has such a big wingspan that he’s a pretty intimidating player to shoot over. Wont block many shots because he tends to sag off his man, but is a presence nonetheless. Knows he isn’t quick enough to stay close to his man out on the perimeter, opting to give himself a cushion in case his man drives. Will get beat off the dribble from time to time, but isn’t a major liability due to his ability to recover. Deflects some passes due to his length. Gets caught out of position on the pick and roll periodically. Too big to go over the top, but not always quick enough to get under the screen in time to recover to a shooter. Concerns himself more with denying penetration than effectively closing out shooters. Not a great weakside defender, sagging into the paint unnecessarily and not always knowing his rotations. Poor defensive rebounder.
Photo: NBA
Jared Jeffries Career in the NBA
Jeffries started off his career in Washington, playing alongside notable teammates Michael Jordan (for one season), Gilbert Arenas, Antwan Jamison, Jerry Stackhouse, Charles Oakley, and Christian Laettner.
In 2005, Jeffries was a rotational player on a Washington Wizards team that reached the playoffs once again. The Wizards won the first round against the Chicago Bulls, but lost to the Miami Heat in the 2005 NBA Playoffs. Jeffries averaged anywhere from 4.0 to 6.8 points per game during his time in Washington, which would be the highest of his NBA career.
In 2006, Jeffries was signed by the New York Knicks after the Wizards did not match the offer. Jeffries was out for an injured wrist and was forced to missed the first 23 games of the 2006-2007 season. Jeffries spent the next three seasons at the Garden.
Photo: Getty Images
Jeffries’ next stop would be with the Houston Rockets. Jeffries and Jordan Hill were included in a three-team agreement that sent Tracy McGrady to the New York Knicks in 2010. A year later, Jeffries agreed to a buyout with the Rockets and decided to rejoin the Knicks.
In 2012, Jeffries was traded in a package deal to the Portland Trailblazers where he played just a single season. He was later waived by the Trailblazers in April of 2013.
Photo: USATSI
Jared Jeffries Post-Basketball Career
In September of 2013, Jared Jeffries retired from the NBA as a player, after accepting a position with the Denver Nuggets in a scouting position. He would work in the front-office position until he was later promoted to the Director of Player Personnel for the Nuggets in April of 2016.
Jeffries also had a stint in eSports. In 2017, Jeffries was named as the President of Team Echo Fox, a gaming organization that was founded by former NBA player Rick Fox.
Photo: Echo Fox
During this time, Jeffries also started a fishing television show known as Modern Fishing TV. The show documented his fishing adventures around the world and was shown on the Outdoor Channel. The show currently has five seasons.
