Jerome Whitehead

One collector is trying to find a single signature from every man who ever played for the Jazz — all 370 of them, from the 1974 New Orleans team to today. For many of them, this page is the only one on the internet. Here is Jerome Whitehead: what he did on the floor, a few things most people never knew, and every card that carries his name. If you own something he signed — or you know who might — there is a note at the foot of this page.

Marquette's 1977 national title ran through him — in the Final Four semifinal, Whitehead caught Butch Lee's length-of-the-court pass and scored the winning basket at the buzzer against UNC-Charlotte. Drafted 41st in 1978, the 6-foot-10 center passed through the Utah Jazz in the second half of 1979-80 on his way to an 11-year NBA career of 679 games and 4,423 points for six teams.

He was found dead on December 20, 2012, at age 56 — an autopsy attributed his death to gastrointestinal hemorrhaging. The buzzer-beater off the full-court pass remains one of the NCAA tournament's storied finishes.

HOW HE CAME & WENTHe signed with Utah as a free agent on January 18, 1980 and was lost to Dallas in the 1980 expansion draft that May.

Utah Jazz tenure

1979–80

Position

Center

Born

1956, Waukegan, Illinois

Died

2012

Height

6′10″ (208 cm)

Weight

220 lb (100 kg)

College

Marquette

Drafted

1978, 2nd round (No. 41), San Diego