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K. J. Maura

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KJ Maura
Maura in 2018
No. 11 – Gigantes de Carolina
PositionPoint guard
LeagueBSN
Personal information
Born (1995-07-30) July 30, 1995 (age 29)
San Juan, Puerto Rico
NationalityPuerto Rican
Listed height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Listed weight150 lb (68 kg)
Career information
High schoolArlington Country Day
(Jacksonville, Florida)
College
NBA draft2018: undrafted
Playing career2018–present
Career history
2018–2019Santeros de Aguada
2019Indios de San Francisco de Macorís
2019–2020Terceira Basket
2020–2022Cariduros de Fajardo
2023–presentGigantes de Carolina
Career highlights and awards
  • BSN champion (2019, 2023)
  • Third-team All-America East (2018)
  • America East Defensive Player of the Year (2018)
  • 2× America East All-Defensive Team (2017, 2018)

Kevin "KJ" Maura Colón[1] (born July 6, 1995) is a Puerto Rican professional basketball player for Gigantes de Carolina of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). He played college basketball for the UMBC Retrievers, spending his final two years of eligibility with the Retrievers, earning America East Defensive Player of the Year and All-Conference honors as a senior. Listed as a 5-foot-8, 140-pound point guard, he was measured as the lightest player in NCAA Division I basketball while at UMBC.

A native of San Juan, he competed at the high school level with Arlington Country Day School in Jacksonville, Florida. He began his college career representing the Abilene Christian Wildcats but transferred to College of Central Florida after his freshman season.

Early life

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Maura was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico to Erica Colón and Melvin Maura.[2][3] He began playing organized basketball at around age five, being encouraged by his father Melvin, who was a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).[4] Maura grew up watching highlights of Steve Nash, who he has called his "hero" and the "best player ever."[4] He began playing high school basketball in Puerto Rico and took part in youth national team camps, but because he only stood 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) by the summer of 2012, he was given limited attention.[5]

After Maura's small size started hampering his early basketball career, his father contacted Art Alvarez, former high school coach of J. J. Barea, who allowed Maura to train at his camp for one week at Miami Christian School in Miami.[5][6] Alvarez subsequently invited Maura to join his travel team, the Miami Tropics, for a tournament in Las Vegas that would be attended by over 100 college basketball coaches.[5][6] He led the team to the championship game of the event.[5]

High school career

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In the fall of 2012, Maura began a two-year stint for the prestigious basketball program at Arlington Country Day School in Jacksonville, Florida, where he played under head coach Rex Morgan, a friend of Art Alvarez, and faced top-ranked recruits like Joel Embiid, Jabari Parker, and Andrew Wiggins.[1][4][5] In his junior season, he averaged 10 points, 12 assists, and 3 steals per game, leading Arlington Country Day to a 30–4 record and top-15 national ranking.[7] He earned most valuable player (MVP) honors at the City of Palms Tournament, which featured several top high school players.[1] As a senior, Maura helped his team reach the state championship.[1] Despite his success at Arlington Country Day, Maura was an unheralded recruit and received few offers from NCAA Division I programs.[4]

College career

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Maura played one season at Abilene Christian and enjoyed solid playing time off the bench, but was dismissed due to a violation of team rules midway through his freshman year. He joined the College of Central Florida and had a strong season, earning junior-college All-America honors and leading the JUCO ranks with 9.6 assists per game. After the season he attended an all-star game in Las Vegas, where he was noticed by UMBC coach Ryan Odom who recruited him to the school.[4] Maura averaged 8.9 points and 4.3 assists per game in his junior season.[8] As a senior at UMBC, Maura was named to the Third-Team All-Conference and won the America East Defensive Player of the Year award, finishing the year averaging 11.3 points and 5.0 assists per game.[9][10][11] He helped #16 seed UMBC defeat #1 seed Virginia in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in a historic upset.[5]

Professional career

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On May 5, 2018, Maura signed with Santeros de Aguada of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) in Puerto Rico.[12] During his second season with Aguada, Maura helped the team reach the BSN finals. With the series being tied 2-2, the Santeros being down by 18 points with just under 7 minutes left in game 5, and Maura not being used much during the playoffs, he was given an opportunity in the fourth quarter, posting 14 points, 3 assists, and playing crucial defense to help the Santeros win and take a 3–2 lead.[13] In game 6 of the finals, with the Santeros down again late in the third quarter, Maura was given another opportunity, playing the entirety of the fourth quarter, helping Aguada comeback and win the game, as well as the franchise's first championship. This win represented Maura's first professional championship.[14]

In August 2019, Maura was selected in the second round of the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto rookie draft by the Indios de San Francisco de Macorís.[15] He averaged 4.5 points and 1.9 assists per game in 14 games. On December 6, 2019, Maura signed with Terceira Basket in Portugal.[16] In 2020, he joined Cariduros de Fajardo.[17]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

College

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2014–15 Abilene Christian 17 0 11.5 .344 .333 1.000 1.4 1.8 .5 .0 1.9
2016–17 UMBC 33 32 32.5 .431 .400 .892 2.8 4.3 1.8 .0 8.9
2017–18 UMBC 33 30 35.1 .469 .432 .863 2.2 5.0 2.0 .0 11.3
Career 83 62 29.2 .445 .414 .882 2.3 4.1 1.6 .0 8.4

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Kevin Maura". College of Central Florida Patriots. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  2. ^ "K. J. Maura". The Denver Post. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  3. ^ "K. J. Maura". UMBC Retrievers. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e Shaffer, Jonas (March 9, 2018). "From Puerto Rico to the America East final, K.J. Maura emerges as UMBC's small wonder". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Hermann, Adam (March 17, 2018). "How UMBC's K.J. Maura went from an afterthought in Puerto Rico to an NCAA history-maker". National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  6. ^ a b Echegaray, Luis Miguel (March 18, 2018). "K.J. Maura's Journey From Puerto Rico to the Epicenter of March Madness". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  7. ^ "Wildcats ink three top high school guards for 2014-15". Abilene Christian Sports. November 21, 2013. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  8. ^ "MARYLAND-BALTIMORE COUNTY RETRIEVERS". Arizona Daily Star. October 26, 2017. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  9. ^ Shaffer, Jonas (March 1, 2018). "UMBC guard K.J. Maura named America East Defensive Player of the Year". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  10. ^ "Maura, Lyles Earn Top Honors From America East; Sherburne, Akin Also Cited" (Press release). UMBC Retrievers. March 1, 2018. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  11. ^ "UMBC seeking trip to America East championship game". WNST. March 6, 2018. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  12. ^ "K.J. Maura signs with Santeros de Aguada". Sportando. May 5, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  13. ^ "Maura lidera remontada de Santeros y están a un paso de la Copa Chrysler". BSN. July 18, 2019. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
  14. ^ "Aguada es el campeón de la temporada 2019 del BSN". BSN. July 21, 2019. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  15. ^ Garcia, Hector (August 15, 2019). "Indios San Francisco escogen Kevin Joel Maura primera selección sorteo novato Liga Nacional Baloncesto". Momento Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved November 26, 2021.
  16. ^ Merida, Daniel (December 6, 2019). "KJ MAURA JUGARÁ EN EL BALONCESTO EUROPEO DE LA MANO DEL TERCEIRA PORTUGUÉS". Cancha Latina (in Spanish). Retrieved November 26, 2021.
  17. ^ Rivera, Joel (July 5, 2021). "Los viejos Santeros afrontan con 'caradura' sus retos en Fajardo". Primera Hora (in Spanish). Retrieved November 26, 2021.
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