Ahmad Starks

Ahmad Starks
	Starks playing for Illinois in 2014
No. 3 – Pelister
Position	Point guard
League	Macedonian First League
Personal information
Born	September 11, 1992 (age 32); Chicago, Illinois
Nationality	American
Listed height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Listed weight	170 lb (77 kg)
Career information
High school	Whitney Young (Chicago, Illinois)
College	Oregon State (2011–2013); Illinois (2014–2015);
NBA draft	2015: undrafted
Playing career	2015–present
Career history
2015–2016	Eco Örebro
2017	North-West Tasmania Thunder
2017–2019	KW Titans
2019–present	Pelister

Ahmad Starks (born September 11, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Pelister of the Macedonian First League. Starks played college basketball for both Oregon State University and the University of Illinois.

High school career

As a junior, Starks helped lead Whitney M. Young Magnet High School to a 4A Illinois High School Boys Basketball Championship with a 69–66 victory over Waukegan High School.^[1]

After his official visit to Oregon State, Starks verbally committed to the program and former head coach Craig Robinson in August 2008. During his recruitment, Starks considered offers from Northwestern, Valparaiso and Illinois-Chicago and received interest from Marquette, Purdue, Stanford, Virginia and Xavier.^[2] During his senior season, Starks averaged 16.1 points, 6.1 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 3.1 steals, leading Whitney Young to another Illinois Class 4A State Championship appearance, only to fall to Simeon Career Academy.^[3]

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Ahmad Starks PG	Chicago, IL	Whitney Young	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	145 lb (66 kg)	Aug 4, 2008
Ahmad Starks PG	Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 88
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 145 Rivals: 134
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Oregon State Commit List for 2010". Rivals.com. Retrieved December 15, 2010. "Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout.com. Retrieved December 15, 2010. "ESPN – Oregon State Beavers Basketball Recruiting 2010". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 15, 2010. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved December 15, 2010. "2010 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved December 15, 2010.

College career

After three seasons at Oregon State, Starks finished as the all-time career leader in three-pointers and single season three-pointers. Starks started in 73 career games at Oregon State and averaged 10.4 points, 2.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.0 steal as a junior. After his junior season, Starks announced his decision to transfer to aid his ailing grandmother. In May 2013, Starks committed to transfer to play at the University of Illinois.^[4] Starks was relegated to take a redshirt year during the 2013–14 season as his hardship waiver request was denied by the NCAA.^[5] As a redshirt senior, Starks started in 20 games for Illinois during the 2014–15 season and averaged 7.7 points a game.^[6]

Professional career

Starks played with Eco Örebro of the Basketligan in Sweden during the 2015–2016 season and averaged 15.6 points per game.^[6] In April 2017, Starks signed with North-West Tasmania Thunder of the South East Australian Basketball League.^[7] In December 2017 Starks signed with the KW Titans of the National Basketball League of Canada.^[8]

References

^ Ryan, Shannon (October 1, 2013). "Illini transfer, Young grad Starks to sit out season". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
^ Hampton, Kevin (November 11, 2009). "Starks makes it official and signs with OSU men's basketball team". Corvallis Gazette Times. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
^ Fredericks, Scoot (March 24, 2010). "Second-half dominance vaults Young back to state semifinals". beverlyreview.net. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
^ Powers, Scott (May 28, 2013). "Ahmad Starks heads to Illini". ESPN. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
^ Borzello, Jeff (October 1, 2013). "NCAA denies hardship waiver for Illinois guard Ahmad Starks". CBS Sports. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
^ ^a ^b Worden, Josh (March 6, 2016). "Where are they now: Ahmad Starks". Orange Media Network. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
^ Fair, Alex (April 13, 2017). "North-West Thunder sign Starks as import replacement". The Advocate. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
^ "Titans add point guard Starks, release Hill". Metroland Media. December 6, 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2018.

External links

[1] Ryan, Shannon (October 1, 2013). "Illini transfer, Young grad Starks to sit out season". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 21, 2018.

[GT-2] Hampton, Kevin (November 11, 2009). "Starks makes it official and signs with OSU men's basketball team". Corvallis Gazette Times. Retrieved March 21, 2018.

[3] Fredericks, Scoot (March 24, 2010). "Second-half dominance vaults Young back to state semifinals". beverlyreview.net. Retrieved March 21, 2018.

[ESPN-4] Powers, Scott (May 28, 2013). "Ahmad Starks heads to Illini". ESPN. Retrieved March 21, 2018.

[5] Borzello, Jeff (October 1, 2013). "NCAA denies hardship waiver for Illinois guard Ahmad Starks". CBS Sports. Retrieved March 21, 2018.

[WATN-6] Worden, Josh (March 6, 2016). "Where are they now: Ahmad Starks". Orange Media Network. Retrieved March 21, 2018.

[7] Fair, Alex (April 13, 2017). "North-West Thunder sign Starks as import replacement". The Advocate. Retrieved March 21, 2018.

[8] "Titans add point guard Starks, release Hill". Metroland Media. December 6, 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2018.

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