Former Olympia star boys basketball player shines in first college start

Titans' all-time leading scorer, Jizzle James, sets multiple career highs in first-ever start for Cincinnati in the NIT.

By Sam Albuquerque
| 12:00 p.m. March 29, 2024

Sports

In his first-ever college basketball start, former Olympia High basketball star Jizzle James scored a career-high 25 points for the No. 2 seed University of Cincinnati men’s basketball team in the second round of the 2024 NIT against No. 3 Bradley University.

James, Olympia's all-time leading scorer, has come off the bench for the majority of his freshman season for the Bearcats (22-6); averaging 8.8 points per game and 2.1 assists in an average of 19.3 minutes per game.

In the 74-57 win over Bradley, James had three more career-highs: 38 minutes played, 17 field goals attempted and 11 field goals made.

James got his second career start in the following game against Indiana State (31-6), the quarterfinals of the NIT, and went on to up his minutes played career-high to 39 and his field goal attempts career-high to 23.

Despite James' efforts, the Bearcats' season came to an end against the Sycamores, falling to the No. 1 seed in the region, 85-81.

author

Sam Albuquerque

A native of João Pessoa, Brazil, Sam Albuquerque moved in 1997 to Central Florida as a kid. After earning a communications degree in 2016 from the University of Central Florida, he started his career covering sports as a producer for a local radio station, ESPN 580 Orlando. He went on to earn a master’s degree in editorial journalism from Northwestern University, before moving to South Carolina to cover local sports for the USA Today Network’s Spartanburg Herald-Journal. When he’s not working, you can find him spending time with his lovely wife, Sarah, newborn son, Noah, and dog named Skulí.