Jarrett Culver

BIOGRAPHY

Jarrett Culver was born on February 20, 1999, in Lubbock, Texas. He is a guard in the NBA.

His father is a pastor at Rising Star Baptist Church, his mother is a director of a local Head Start. Culver grew up playing football and soccer before focusing on basketball while at Irons Middle School. He often played NBA 2K and pickup basketball in his driveway with his older brother, Trey.

Culver attended Coronado High School in Lubbock, where he played basketball under head coach Randy Dean. He averaged 20 points per game as a junior, leading his team to the 6A regional semifinals. Culver was named Lone Star Varsity Player of the Year by Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. In his senior campaign, he averaged about 30 points per game and led his team in rebounds and assists. At the start of the season, Culver re-aggravated a shoulder injury he originally suffered as a junior, but he still led Coronado to the playoffs and repeated as Lone Star Varsity Player of the Year. Culver was a consensus three-star recruit and committed to Texas Tech on September 22, 2016. He had offers from several other NCAA Division I programs, including Baylor, Texas, and Illinois.

As a freshman, Culver averaged 11.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game. He scored 229 points in conference play, breaking the Big 12 freshman record set by Martin Zeno in 2005. Entering his sophomore season, Culver was named preseason All-Big 12 honorable mention. He was also one of 20 players to make the 2019 Jerry West Award watch list. Culver assumed a leading role in his second year, with the departures of key players Zhaire Smith and Keenan Evans. He made his debut on November 6, 2018, recording 16 points and 4 assists. He won most valuable player (MVP) honors at the Hall of Fame Classic. The next day, he became one of 20 players to be named to the Oscar Robertson Trophy midseason watch list. After leading the Red Raiders to a share of the Big 12 regular season title, he was named Big 12 Player of the Year at the end of conference play. Culver would then lead his team to the 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, where they eventually lost to Virginia. After the season, Culver declared for the 2019 NBA draft.

Culver was selected as the sixth pick of the 2019 NBA draft by the Phoenix Suns. However, his draft rights were immediately traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Dario Šarić and the eleventh pick of the draft.