Joe Ragland
Ragland in 2013, while at Pallacanestro Cantù.
No. 1 – Peristeri
PositionPoint guard
LeagueGreek Basket League
BCL
Personal information
Born (1989-11-11) November 11, 1989 (age 34)
Springfield, Massachusetts
NationalityAmerican / Liberian
Listed height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Listed weight85 kg (187 lb)
Career information
High schoolWest Springfield
(West Springfield, Massachusetts)
College
NBA draft2012: undrafted
Playing career2012–present
Career history
2012–2013Murcia
2013–2014Cantù
2014–2015Olimpia Milano
2015Karşıyaka
2015–2017Felice Scandone
2017–2018Lokomotiv Kuban
2018–2019Crvena zvezda
2019–2020Cantù
2020–2021Hapoel Eilat
2021–2023Hapoel Holon
2023–presentPeristeri
Career highlights and awards

Joseph Alexander Ragland (born November 11, 1989) is an American-Liberian professional basketball player for Peristeri of the Greek Basket League and the Basketball Champions League. He played college basketball for North Platte Community College and Wichita State.

Early life

Ragland was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, to a Liberian family. He played basketball for West Springfield High School, where he earned the Lahovich Award as a senior.

College career

Ragland then committed to North Platte Community College in the NJCAA.[1] Ragland was named a first team NJCAA all-American in 2010,[2] as he led his team to an NJCAA tournament appearance,[3] averaging 18.4 points per game on 56% from the field.[1] Ragland, finished his career at North Platte as the college's all-time leading scorer with 1,286 points,[4] having averages of 19.5 points and 3.1 assists per game.[1]

His performances at North Platte caught the eye of Gregg Marshall who offered him a scholarship at Wichita State.[3] As a junior with the Shockers, he started 19 games, led the team in assists helping it win the 2011 NIT.[3] Ragland had a career-high scoring performance against UNLV with 31 points with another career high of 8 three-pointers made.[1][5] In his senior season he averaged 13.4 points per game, ranking first nationally in true shooting percentage with 70.4%.[6] For his performances in the 2011–12 season, he was voted in the first team of the Missouri Valley Conference.[7] Totally in his two seasons with the Shockers, Ragland appeared in 69 games and had averages of 10 points, 3 assists, and 2.3 rebounds per game.[8]

Professional career

Following two solid years as starting point guard for Wichita State he entered the 2012 NBA draft however he went undrafted. He next played in the 2012 NBA Summer League for the Golden State Warriors; although he played all 5 games for the undefeated Warriors he was not able to secure a contract.[9]

Moving to Europe to start his professional career, he signed his first contract in August with UCAM Murcia of the Spanish Liga ACB, signing a two-year contract.[10] After accounting himself well for the Murcia, who were not in playoff contention or relegation danger, he was loaned near the end of the season in April 2013 to Italian side Pallacanestro Cantù to play in the Serie A playoffs.[11] He proved to be an instant hit in Italy, playing in all their games and contributing greatly to their run to the semi-finals.

Cantù then moved to secure him for the next season, signing him on a one-year deal in July.[12] It proved to be wise move for the club as he became an indisputable starter, contributing greatly in both the league and European second-tier Eurocup where he was respectively called up for the All-Star game and MVP of Round 4.[13]

These performances caught the eye of Emporio Armani Milano, especially after he scored a season-high 27 points against them in April 2014, he signed a two-year contract in July with the EuroLeague side.[14] Ragland and Milano agreed to rescind the player's contract in July 2015.[15]

On July 29, 2015, Ragland signed a one-year deal with the Turkish club Pınar Karşıyaka.[16] On December 9, 2015, he left Karşıyaka and signed with the Italian club Sidigas Avellino for the rest of the season.[17] On June 15, 2016, he re-signed with Avellino for one more season.[18]

On July 21, 2017, Ragland signed a two-year deal with Russian club Lokomotiv Kuban.[19] On August 10, 2018, Ragland moved to Belgrade and signed with KK Crvena zvezda for the 2018–19 season, with additional option for one more year.[20]

On July 19, 2019, Ragland signed a one-year deal with Turkish club Darüşşafaka Tekfen,[21] but never appeared in any games because of an injury.[22] On 12 December of the same year, he returned to Italy in the Serie A, signing again with Pallacanestro Cantù.[23]

On July 31, 2020, Ragland signed in Israel with Hapoel Eilat.[24] In 2020-21 he was second in the Israel Basketball Premier League in assists per game (7.5).[25] [26]

On July 21, 2021, he signed with Hapoel Holon of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. Ragland was pivotal in helping Holon win the Israel championship for the 2021-22 season, its first in 13 years. [27]

On June 23, 2023, Ragland signed with Greek club Peristeri.

Personal

He obtained Liberian citizenship in November 2012. Under the Cotonou Agreement it allows him to be counted as an EU player in most European leagues such as the Italian League and the Spanish League.[28]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

Euroleague

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2014–15 Milano 24 9 18.6 .386 .346 .828 1.6 2.9 .6 .0 7.2 6.0
Career 24 9 18.6 .386 .346 .828 1.6 2.9 .6 .0 7.2 6.0

Domestic leagues

Season Team League GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2012-13 UCAM Murcia Liga ACB 25 23.0 .520 .417 .814 2.1 2.4 1.1 .1 11.2
2013-14 Acqua Vitasnella Cantù Lega A 33 31.0 .558 .462 .821 3.5 3.4 .9 .2 16.2
2014-15 EA7-Emporio Armani 40 23.0 .597 .441 .829 3.0 3.2 .9 .1 11.1
2015-16 Pınar Karşıyaka Turkish BSL 6 30.0 .422 .321 .740 3.8 7.7 1.3 .0 13.8
2015-16 Sidigas Avellino Lega A 30 28.5 .473 .400 .855 3.4 3.8 1.4 .0 13.3

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Joe Ragland player bio". Wichita State Athletics. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  2. ^ "NJCAA Basketball All - Americans". North Platte Community College Athletics. Archived from the original on November 6, 2016. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c Auerbach, Nicole (February 11, 2016). "Holding Court: Q and A with Wichita State's Joe Ragland". USA Today. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  4. ^ "Points Scored Records". North Platte Community College Athletics. Archived from the original on November 6, 2016. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  5. ^ Bern, Taylor (December 4, 2011). "UNLV doesn't match Wichita State's energy in loss". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  6. ^ Suellentrop, Paul (September 25, 2016). "Watch former Wichita State guard Joe Ragland make a game-winning triplazo in Supercoppa". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  7. ^ "Doug McDermott Named Larry Bird Player of the Year". Missouri Valley Conference. February 28, 2012. Archived from the original on March 26, 2015. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  8. ^ "Joe Ragland College Stats". Sports Reference College Basketball. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  9. ^ "Joe Ragland - 2012 Summer League Statistics", NBA. Retrieved on 17 March 2015.
  10. ^ "Joe Ragland, American point guard for UCAM Murcia". Archived April 2, 2015, at the Wayback Machine Liga ACB, acb.com, 26 August 2010. Retrieved on 17 March 2015.
  11. ^ "Joe Ragland has been ceded to Levono Cantú until the end of the season". Archived April 2, 2015, at the Wayback Machine Liga ACB, acb.com, 30 April 2013. Retrieved on 17 March 2015.
  12. ^ "Pallacanestro Cantù confirms Joe Ragland". Pallacanestro Cantù, 13 July 2013. Retrieved on 17 March 2015.
  13. ^ "Regular Season Round 4 MVP: Joe Ragland, FoxTown Cantu". Eurocup, 7 November 2013. Retrieved on 17 March 2015.
  14. ^ ""My Name is Joe": here we have Ragland!". olimpiamilano.com. July 17, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  15. ^ "Olimpia and Joe Ragland part ways". Olimpia Milano. July 8, 2015. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  16. ^ "Karsiyaka inks point guard Ragland". Euroleague.net. July 29, 2015. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  17. ^ "Sidigas Avellino announces Joe Ragland". Sportando.com. December 9, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
  18. ^ "Scandone Avellino officially re-signs Joe Ragland". Sportando.com. June 15, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  19. ^ "Lokomotiv Kuban tabs playmaker Ragland". Eurocupbasketball.com. July 21, 2017. Archived from the original on July 25, 2017. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  20. ^ "Joe Ragland mnovi plejmejker Crvene zvezde mts!!!". kkcrvenazvezda.rs. Archived from the original on August 10, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  21. ^ "Darussafaka joins forces with Ragland". eurocupbasketball.com. Archived from the original on July 19, 2019. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
  22. ^ "Club Announcement". darussafakabasketbol.com. September 9, 2019.
  23. ^ "CINELANDIA REGALA JOE RAGLAND AI TIFOSI BIANCOBLÙ" (in Italian). pallacanestrocantu.com. December 9, 2019.
  24. ^ "החתמה מרשימה: ג'ו רגלנד מגיע לאילת" (in Hebrew). basket.co.il. July 31, 2020.
  25. ^ "Israel basketball stats, results, box score, scout report and video online | Scouting4U".
  26. ^ עדלאידע: הפועל חולון אלופה אחרי 74:90 על בני הרצליה | ישראל היום https://www.israelhayom.co.il/sport/israeli-basketball/article/11545696?amp=1
  27. ^ "Hapoel Holon lands Joe Ragland". Eurohoops. July 21, 2021. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
  28. ^ "kilometers in a day and a half to become Cotonou. ACB validate Ragland's Liberian passport". tubasket.com. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016.