Gabriel Pruitt (born on April 19, 1986 in Los Angeles, California) is an African American basketball player. He stands at 6"4", 170 pounds as a junior in 2007. He can play either the point or shooting guard positions or small forward. Since he is an efficient shooter, defender, and leader, Pruitt did fairly well as a sophomore for the Trojans.^[1] 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.^[1] However, due to academic issues he is sitting out the first semester of the 2006-2007 season. April 19 is the 109th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (110th in leap years). ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nickname: Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates: State California County Los Angeles County Incorporated April 4, 1850 Government  - Type Mayor-Council  - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D)  - City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo  - Governing body City Council Area  - City  498. ... Alternate uses: Student (disambiguation) Etymologically derived through Middle English from the Latin second-type conjugation verb stŭdērĕ, which means to study, a student is one who studies. ... The University of Southern California (commonly referred to as USC, SC, Southern California, and incorrectly as Southern Cal),[4] located in the University Park neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, USA, was founded in 1880, making it Californias oldest private research university. ...

Biography

High school

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. Westchester is a neighborhood in western Los Angeles, California. ... Guards is an honorific title given to Red Army (Soviet Army) and Red Navy units who performed heroically during the Great Patriotic War (World War II). ...

Basketball career

On April 27 Pruitt announced that he registered for the 2007 NBA Draft; however, despite making himself eligible to turn pro, Pruitt did not sign an agent, as he plans to return to USC for his 2007-2008 senior season if he is not gauged as at least a second-round draft pick.

"I want to go through the process to see where I stand with the NBA people," Pruitt said at his press conference. "I am leaving all of my options open, but I want to test the waters. It is a tough decision for me because I love being part of the Trojan family. My ultimate goal is to play in the NBA and I look at this experience as another step in that direction."

He followed teammate and fellow junior Nick Young in declaring for the draft, whereas freshman teammate Taj Gibson declined to make himself eligible.

2006-2007

Pruitt, who missed the first 13 games of the season while academically ineligible, Pruitt 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. 4 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.

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.^[1] 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.^[1] 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.^[1] 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.^[1] 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. Nick Young (born June 1, 1985) is a professional basketball player who played for the University of Southern California from 2004 to 2007. ... Duane Cooper (born June 25, 1969 in Benton Harbor, Michigan), is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2nd round (36th overall) of the 1992 NBA Draft. ... Harold Miner was the greatest athlete of all time, easily surpassing the overrated Michael Jordan, from whom he got his Baby Jordan nickname. ... Look up field in Wiktionary, the free dictionary A green field or paddock Field may refer to: A field is an open land area, used for growing agricultural crops. ... December 21 is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Stanford may refer: Stanford University Places: Stanford, Kentucky Stanford, California, home of Stanford University Stanford Shopping Center Stanford, New York, town in Dutchess County. ... Wally Szczerbiak at the free throw line. ... Staples Center is a multipurpose sports arena in Downtown Los Angeles, California at the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment District. ...

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 v. 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).^[1] He tallied a career-high seven steals and a game-high 25 points in a 77-70 win over Arizona on February 2.^[1] Then he missed several games from Feb. 9-25 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).^[1] His 111 steals are among the tops of the Pac-10.^[1]Making 94 of his 117 (80.3 percent) free-throw attempts, he ranked tenth in the conference^[1] and earned the Joe Barbato Award for the best free-throw percentage on the Trojans at the team awards dinner.^[1] Arizona State University (ASU) is (as of 2004) the third-largest university in the United States with a student body of 57,543. ... January 5 is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Tibial can refer to: Tibia bone Tibial nerve Anterior tibial artery Posterior tibial artery Anterior tibial vein Posterior tibial vein Category: ...

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).^[1] 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.^[1] and a high of eight rebounds v. Arizona State on February 12. December 9 is the 343rd day (344th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Personal life

Because of his toothy smile that rarely leaves his face, he was named "Smilin' Gabe".^[1] He is an undecided major at USC and would like to have a career as a computer engineer. His favorite food is french fries.^[1] 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." ^[1] He likes listening to to Lil Wayne, Eminem, Jay-Z and T.I..^[1] Computer Engineering (also sometimes called Computer Systems Engineering) is a specialised discipline that combines electrical engineering and computer science. ... French fried potatoes, commonly known as French fries or fries (North America) or chips (United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and Commonwealth) are pieces of potato that have been chopped into batons and deep fried. ... Spoiler warning: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was a television sitcom which aired on NBC from 1990 to 1996. ... Family Guy is an American animated television series about a nuclear family in the suburb of Quahog (IPA or ), Rhode Island. ... Lil Wayne (also known as Lil Wayne, born Dwayne Michael Carter on September 27, 1966 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is a American, Grammy-nominated rapper and is known as the president of New Orleans, Louisiana-based label Cash Money Records and Young Money Entertainment. ... Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), better known as Eminem, is a Grammy and Academy Award-winning American rapper, record producer, and actor from the Detroit, Michigan area. ... Jay-Z (aka the Jigga, HOV and Hova, born Shawn Carter on December 4, 1970 in Brooklyn, New York) is an African American rapper/hip hop artist and record label executive; one of the most popular and successful rappers of the late 1990s and early 2000s. ... Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. ...

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 TheFacebook.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 began as a baseball player before switching to basketball.

Player statistics

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r} Shooting Success. Retrieved on 2006-11-11.
2. ^ ^{a b c} Statistics Stay Shooting. Retrieved on 2006-11-11.

For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... November 11 is the 315th day of the year (316th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 50 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... November 11 is the 315th day of the year (316th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 50 days remaining. ...

External links

• Pac-10 preview: UCLA, Washington still on top
• Pac-10 race this year in Rivals.com's All-Pac-10 team
• Georgia, USC Pick up pieces
• Freshmen Trojans will feel void
• Tim Floyd on Gabe Pruitt
• USC one ups UCLA
• Huskies vs. Trojans
• Pruitt is out for three weeks
• Looking at Pruitt Early in the year
• Cal looks to rebound against USC