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Almost Famous

By Gary Stephen
CHICAGO, IL - DECEMBER 20: If you look really closely, you can see USF's Jarrid Famous on the Indiana Pacers bench at bottom left. He played in this NBA preseason game. Ironically, the Bulls won.
CHICAGO, IL - DECEMBER 20: If you look really closely, you can see USF's Jarrid Famous on the Indiana Pacers bench at bottom left. He played in this NBA preseason game. Ironically, the Bulls won.

While we've been moping about football and poking fun at our current basketball team, we have thus far neglected to report one piece of good news about last year's team: Jarrid Famous' professional career is off to a fantastic start.

Since leaving USF, Famous was the 37th overall pick in the NBA Developmental League draft, won a spot in the Iowa Energy starting lineup, and was so dominant in his first six games that he earned an invitation to Indiana Pacers training camp.

Unfortunately, he only got a few minutes of garbage time in two preseason games against the Chicago Bulls. His stat line? 0 for 1 from the field. He missed an 18-footer with 7 seconds to play in an already decided game.

Famous was one of four players waived by the Pacers on December 22 to finalize their roster. SB Nation site Indy Cornrows was unsurprised, describing Famous and three other rookie aspirants as "free agents brought in to bolster the workout numbers." Also, the Pacers' trade for frontcourt veteran Lou Amundson hurt whatever chance Famous had to win a roster spot.

So Famous will return to the farm team in Iowa, after not getting a fair chance in the major leagues. Now he knows what it's like to be a Chicago Cub. (Ba-dum tss.)

But the NBDL's official site thinks he'll be invited back to the NBA at some point this season. With the compressed schedule and rushed training camp brought on by the NBA lockout, the demand for 10-day contract players is likely to be much greater than usual. If he can keep producing in the D-League, Jarrid Famous will become the seventh South Florida Bull to play in the NBA. (How many of the other six can you name? Answer here.)

For more about the NBA Developmental League, see Ridiculous Upside.