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Center · 2005–06

Robert Whaley

Walsh University had never won a national title until Whaley, the 2004-05 NAIA Division II Player of the Year, delivered one — the last stop on a road through Benton Harbor High, Barton County Community College, and Cincinnati. The Jazz took him 51st in 2005, and as of 2018 no NAIA player had been drafted since. Knee trouble limited his rookie year to 23 games before Utah traded him to Toronto in the Rafael Araujo deal.

Life afterward turned hard.

HOW HE CAME & WENTUtah took him 51st overall in 2005 and traded him with Kris Humphries to Toronto a year later. He was suspended a game for lying about how he cut his hand.

Full name
Robert Antawon Whaley
Utah Jazz tenure
2005–06
Position
Center
Born
1982, Benton Harbor, Michigan
Height
6′10″ (208 cm)
Weight
260 lb (118 kg)
College
Walsh
Drafted
2005, 2nd round (No. 51), Utah
Signature in the archive 2005-06 Exquisite Collection #87-AP Rookie 34/225 Jazz RC

No photograph of this signature is online yet.

With the Jazz

ROBERT WHALEY · 2005–06 · PER GAME
SEASONTEAMGMPGPPGRPGAPGSPGBPGFG%3P%FT%
2005–06UTA239.22.11.90.70.30.3.404.500
JAZZ TOTAL1 SEASON239.22.11.90.70.30.3.404.500

Season by season, regular season, with this franchise only. More info: Basketball-Reference ↗  ·  Wikipedia ↗

Did you know

ROBERT WHALEY · 5 NOTES
  • For well over a decade he stood as the most recent NBA draftee to come out of an NAIA school.
  • Out of Benton Harbor, Michigan, he arrived in college as a top-35 national recruit and a contender for Mr. Basketball.
  • His NBA career high was 11 points against the New York Knicks two days before Christmas in 2005.
  • After Utah he played in the Dominican Republic and in Iran before a season in the D-League.
  • By 2014 he was back in Utah coaching an AAU team built around fifth-graders, his own son Robert among them.