Gabe Pruitt

Full Name: Gabe Michael Pruitt	Current Team: Boston Celtics
Height/Weight: 6'4"/170	Number: 13
Birthdate: April 19, 1986	Entry Draft: 2nd round (32nd) in 2007
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California	Drafted By: Boston Celtics
Position: PG/SG	College: University of Southern California

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[edit] Biography

Gabriel Michael Pruitt (born on April 19, 1986 in Los Angeles, California) is an African American basketball player.

[edit] College Career

[edit] 2006-2007

Since he was an efficient shooter, defender, and leader, Pruitt did fairly well as a sophomore for the Trojans. With 131 three-pointers, Pruitt holds the record for most three pointers by a Trojan (in his first two seasons) , ranking 10th all-time at USC.

Pruitt, who missed the first 13 games of the season while academically ineligible, finished third in scoring, averaging 12.5 points per game, while leading the team in assists with 113 and steals with 47 in 26 games. He also led USC in free throw shooting, hitting 80.0 percent, to win the Joe Barbato Award for the team's highest free throw percentage for his second consecutive season. Pruitt became the 32nd Trojan in history to score 1,000 points in his career, and ranks 27th all-time at USC in scoring with 1,102 points. He also stands in fourth place all-time at USC for three-pointers made with 179 while holding down the sixth spot in steals with 158.

Pruitt helped lead East Region five-seed USC to the round of Sweet Sixteen in the 2007 NCAA Tournament, where they fell to No. 1 North Carolina, 74-64. Pruitt scored in double figures in all three NCAA Tournament games against Arkansas, Kevin Durant-led Texas, and the Tarheels, and had better than a 3:1 assist to turnover ratio (19 to 6).

While ineligible, Pruitt's steady ball-handling was missed, as he was replaced by freshmen Daniel Hackett--who came to USC after the death of sophomore point guard Ryan Francis in the offseason combined with Pruitt's ineligibility caused a dearth at the position--and to a lesser degree Kevin Galloway, who has since transferred. If Pruitt leaves USC, his only successors will be Hackett and incoming freshman OJ Mayo, lauded as the country's no. 1 recruit, as 2008 recruit Brandon Jennings reopened his commitment.

[edit] 2005-2006

Gabe started 25 games for the USC and finished second on that team and fifth in the Pac-10 with a 16.9 scoring average, while snagging 4.0 rebounds and having 3.1 assists per game. He was named to the All-Pac-10 first team along with teammate Nick Young; they had become the first pair of Trojans to make the team since Duane Cooper and Harold Miner in 1992. Additionally Pruitt was selected to the NABC District 15 first team. On December 3 v. BYU, he had his first career double-double, scoring 17 points with a career-high 10 rebounds. His next career high was made when he scored 36 points in a 71-69 victory at Loyola Marymount on December 10, which earned him Pac-10 Player of the Week honors. From the field, Pruitt was 13-19 (68.4 percent), including 5-for-10 from three-point range. He became the 12th Trojan to score 36 points or more in a game. He had 16 points (counting 5-for-8 from outside the arc), six rebounds and assists, and four steals in a victory over North Carolina on December 21. He sealed USC's win over Stanford on December 31 by making 10 of 12 free throw shots down the line, including 6-6 in the final 47 seconds of the 82-71 win at the Staples Center.

He scored 30 points on 11-for-18 shooting (5-11 from three-point range) in a near-victory against Arizona State on January 5 (at 66-65). Pruitt scored six three-pointers and made all of his 21 points in the second half of an 86-77 loss vs. Washington on the twelfth. He marked 30 points again on an 8-12 shooting (6 three-pointers made) in an 84-78 win on January 28. Pruitt became the ninth Trojan to score 30 or more points in three games or more in the same season and the first since Harold Miner in 1992 (who did this 11 times). He tallied a career-high seven steals and a game-high 25 points in a 77-70 win over Arizona on February 2. Then he missed several games from 9 February-25 after he suffered a tibial plateau fracture in his left knee. His return to action was on March 2, playing in USC's final three games. However, he only marked 29.3 percent of his shots (12-for-41). He ranked second in the Pac-10 in steals with 55 (2.2 per game). His 111 steals are among the tops of the Pac-10. Making 94 of his 117 (80.3 percent) free-throw attempts, he ranked tenth in the conference and earned the Joe Barbato Award for the best free-throw percentage on the Trojans at the team awards dinner.

[edit] 2004-2005

He earned team MVP honors along with fellow freshman Nick Young. He led the Trojans in points (356), scoring average (12.3), three point average (.450), assists (92), and steals (56) earning him selection to the All-Pac-10 freshman team. His three-point field-goal percentage set a school record and he hit at a .547 clip (41-of-75) in the latter half of the season. He was among the all-time Trojan top-10 freshmen in points (fifth) average (T-fourth), field goals (seventh), field-goals attempted (eighth), field-goal percentage (the ninth-best ever by a freshman guard), three-pointers (1st), three-pointers attempted (second), three-pointer percentage (first), free-throw percentage (ninth), assists (fifth) and steals (second). He scored in double-digits in 20 of 29 of his games, including a season-high of 23 twice, both against Stanford at home on January 22 and at Stanford on February 27. In the home game v. Stanford, he made a season high of seven three-pointers out of 11 attempted. This tied him with Anthony Pendleton who had achieved this feat on (December 9, 1987). He had a season-best eight assists in his game v. San Diego on December 11. He also had a high of eight rebounds v. Arizona State on February 12.

[edit] High School Career

In High school, he averaged 22 points per game as a senior at Westchester High School in Westchester, California in 2004. He was a Parade Magazine fourth team All-America selection, and earned Roundball All-America, Student Sports All-America special mention, Los Angeles Times All-City and South Bay/Westside first team and South Bay Daily Breeze Player of the Year honors. He was listed as the No. 20 prep player in the country by Basketball Times after his senior year, and was considered among the top 20 prep guards by Athlon Sports and Insiders.com in his senior year.

[edit] Personal Life

Because of his toothy smile that rarely leaves his face, he was named "Smilin' Gabe".
He is an undecided major at USC and would like to have a career as a computer engineer. His favorite food is french fries.
He enjoys watching the "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and "Family Guy". His favorite film is "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls." He says that the best part of being at the USC is "being a member of the Trojan family."
He likes listening to to Lil' Wayne, Eminem]], Jay-Z, and T.I..

Pruitt's personal life clashed with his basketball career when, during the 2005-2006 season, students at the University of California, Berkeley, masqueraded as an attractive UCLA co-ed named "Victoria," befriending Pruitt via the then-exclusively collegiate networking website facebook.com and chatting with him on the America Online Instant Messenger service. When USC travelled north to Haas Pavilion on March 4, the student section rang out in a chorus of "Victoria! Victoria!" in an attempt to psyche Pruitt out; they were largely successful, as he had one of the worst outings of his career, shooting 3-13, including 2-10 from three-point range. USC lost, 71-60, as the team shot 29.5 percent on 61 shots. This incident prompted the athletic department at USC to buckle down on student-athletes' interactions via such social networking websites.

Pruitt is reported to have began as a baseball player before switching to basketball, although during an interview with Joe Castiglione and Glen Geffner on WRKO during the July 2, 2007 Boston Red Sox game, he indicated that he ceased playing baseball in elementary school.

[edit] Transactions

[edit] College Basketball Statistics

Season	G	FG%	3P%	FT%	Reb.	RPG	Asst	Bl	St	Pts	PPG
2006-2007	26	41.6	35.0	80.0	73	2.8	4.3	0.3	1.8	324	12.5
2005-2006	25	40.5	38.0	80.3	101	4.0	3.1	0.3	2.2	422	16.9
2004-2005	29	48.8	45.0	70.3	73	2.5	3.2	0.1	1.9	356	12.3
Career	80	43.4	39.3	77.8	247	3.1	3.5	0.2	2.0	1102	13.8

[edit] NBA Statistics

[edit] Totals

Season	Team	G	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	3P	3PA	3P%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
2008	BOS	15	95	14	39	.359	3	12	.250	1	2	.500	1	7	8	13	5	0	5	10	32
2009	BOS	47	366	31	101	.307	14	48	.292	17	21	.810	9	34	43	39	15	3	19	34	93
Career		62	461	45	140	.321	17	60	.283	18	23	.783	10	41	51	52	20	3	24	44	125

[edit] Per Game

Season	Team	G	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	3P	3PA	3P%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
2008	BOS	15	6.3	0.9	2.6	.359	0.2	0.8	.250	0.1	0.1	.500	0.1	0.5	0.5	0.9	0.3	0.0	0.3	0.7	2.1
2009	BOS	47	7.8	0.7	2.1	.307	0.3	1.0	.292	0.4	0.4	.810	0.2	0.7	0.9	0.8	0.3	0.1	0.4	0.7	2.0
Career		62	7.4	0.7	2.3	.321	0.3	1.0	.283	0.3	0.4	.783	0.2	0.7	0.8	0.8	0.3	0.0	0.4	0.7	2.0