Zachary Randolph

Zachary Randolph, also known as Zach Randolph, is a professional basketball player from the United States of America who plays as a power forward. Randolph went to the Marion High School in his hometown, coached by Moe Smedley in his high school team. In his second season, a Randolph-led the Marion Giants went on to the Class 4A Championship Game, a feat they repeated in his senior year again. In their second stint in the championship game, Randolph helped his team to their seventh state basketball championship title and finished second himself, in the race to become Mr. Basketball in Indiana state.

He moved on to the Michigan State University where he played for the Spartans under Tom Izzo. Randolph would just play a single season of collegiate ball where he would average at 10.8 points per game with 6.7 rebounds while helping his team to a 28-5 record as well as leading them to the NCAA Final Four.

Randolph declared for the 2001 NBA Draft and was picked at 19th overall, by the Portland Trail Blazers.

Randolph began slowly, playing just 41 games with just under 6 minutes per game. It wasn’t until his second season with the Trail Blazers that Randolph actually began getting a foothold in the arena. He made his first NBA start in 2002-03, playing 77 games in all. His scoring went up to 8.4 points per game while his rebounding was at 4.5 per game.

Randolph improved his performance over the seasons and despite suffering injuries, especially in 2004-05 when half of his season was cut short, Randolph became a powerful player for the Trail Blazers, winning the 2004 NBA’s Most Improved Player award before signing a six-year extension on his contract with the team.

It was in 2006-07 when he starred for the team with a career-high 23.6 points per game average and 10.1 rebounds per game with 2.2 assists.

Randolph moved to the New York Knicks in 2007, along with teammates Dan Dickau and Fred Jones, in exchange for Steve Francis & Channing Frye. The deal went through on draft day when the draft rights to Demetris Nichols were given to the Knicks in exchange for a 2008 2nd round pick.

Randolph played with the Knicks for two seasons, gathering 17.6 points per game in his first season, along with 10.3 rebounds. His second season with the Knicks lasted just 11 games, before moving onto the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas, along with Mardy Collins. Randolph’s tenure with the Clippers was quite eventful, although playing just 39 games in the season. Randolph had 20.9 points per game with 9.4 rebounds and a career-high 2.3 assists per game although he was ejected, in a game against the Phoenix Suns, for punching Louis Amundson in the jaw.

In 2009, Randolph moved to the Memphis Grizzlies where he would start a career-high 81 games in his first season. Grabbing 11.7 rebounds per game and scoring at 20.8 points per game, Randolph has been one of the most consistent performers in the NBA.