Jesse Perry starts pro career today in Lebanon

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The following is a WILDABOUTAZCATS.net listing of former Arizona players who are in the NBA and playing professionally internationally or in the D-League (26 players in all). I will attempt to update this weekly. Some notes and links first …

– Jesse Perry (at Arizona from 2010-12) begins his pro career today in Lebanon for Hoops Club, which is located in Beirut. Former UA center Loren Woods (1999-2001) plays in the same league for Al Riyadi.

– Hassan Adams (2002-06) will join the list Jan. 6 when the Venezuelan professional league starts. He has signed on for another year there with Guaros of Lara.

– Marcus Williams (2005-07) is becoming a sensation in China, averaging 30.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists. His teammate Charles Gaines, formerly of the Milwaukee Bucks, told the Global Times that Williams is the best foreign player in the league, which includes Tracy McGrady, Stephon Marbury and former UA player Gilbert Arenas (1999-2001). Arenas plays for a team owned by former Rockets center Yao Ming.

– Zane Johnson (2007-09), who transferred to Hawaii for his junior and senior seasons, played eight games in Japan before opting to play in Spain. He has yet to begin playing there.

– Nic Wise (2006-10), beset by injuries, played three games in Italy this season before returning to the United States to rehab his knee. Wise tweeted this week that he is headed back to Europe soon but it has not been reported about where or if he will play professionally.

– Longtime friends Richard Jefferson (1998-2001) and Luke Walton (1998-2003), members of Arizona’s heralded 1998 recruiting class, continue to play in the NBA but with limited minutes. Cleveland coach Byron Scott likes Walton on his team because he “makes guys around him better.” Jefferson has been hampered recently by a strained right calf that kept him out for 10 games.

ARIZONA PLAYERS IN THE NBA
Updated Dec. 28

Player	Team	G	MPG	FG%	3PT%	FT%	APG	RPG	PPG
Andre Iguodala	Denver	31	34.7	.446	.342	.687	4.32	5.71	13.94
a-Chase Budinger	Minnesota	6	23.4	.480	.304	.800	1.50	3.67	11.83
Jason Terry	Boston	28	30.3	.436	.385	.860	2.25	2.00	11.11
Derrick Williams	Minnesota	22	17.5	.407	.357	.719	0.41	4.41	8.09
Will Bynum	Detroit	22	15.5	.443	.435	.846	2.73	1.05	7.45
Jordan Hill	L.A. Lakers	26	15.6	.485	.000	.652	0.46	5.62	6.08
Jerryd Bayless	Memphis	26	16.6	.392	.326	.800	3.27	1.85	5.65
Richard Jefferson	Golden State	16	11.6	.340	.150	.714	1.12	1.06	2.94
Luke Walton	Cleveland	12	11.7	.294	.143	.500	1.25	1.92	1.92
b-Channing Frye	Phoenix	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–

a–Budinger is out until early March at the earliest with a torn lateral meniscus in his left knee.
b–Frye is out this season because of an enlarged heart treatable with rest.

ARIZONA PLAYERS INTERNATIONALLY & D-LEAGUE
Stats provided by EuroBasket.com. Updated Dec. 28

Player	Team	G	MPG	FG%	3PT%	FT%	APG	RPG	PPG
Marcus Williams	China
	Shanxi	13	33.1	58.1	55.8	83.6	5.2	6.2	30.9
Jamelle Horne	Mexico
	Mexicali	7	28.1	54.9	43.3	85.2	1.3	5.6	20.0
a-Michael Wright	Turkey
	Mersin	12	32.5	54.5	0.0	80.3	0.3	6.0	19.4
Mustafa Shakur	Italy
	Sidigas	12	29.6	45.5	25.0	74.2	4.0	3.8	13.0
Loren Woods	Lebanon
	Al Riyadi	5	18.4	61.5	0.0	80.0	0.4	7.8	11.2
Daniel Dillon	Romania
	CSM Oradea	15	24.9	60.3	37.0	75.9	3.1	5.5	10.6
Josiah Turner	Canada
	Halifax	15	25.6	38.0	25.0	80.0	3.7	4.9	9.8
Gilbert Arenas	China
	Shanghai	4	14.3	63.6	25.0	76.9	2.8	4.5	9.8
Ivan Radenovic	Ukraine
	BC Donetsk	14	20.1	50.5	21.4	75.0	1.9	5.2	9.4
Kyle Fogg	D-League
	Rio Grande	11	22.3	44.2	28.2	75.0	2.5	4.3	8.1
Kyryl Natyazhko	Ukraine
	Azovmash	14	10.7	62.5	0.0	45.5	0.2	3.4	6.4
Brendon Lavender	Sweden
	Stockholm	3	20.0	33.3	14.3	100.0	0.7	1.0	3.7

a–Wright goes by Ali Karadeniz, his Turkish name
Note–Mohamed Tangara (at UA from 2005-08) plays professionally in Angola but that league is out of season currently.

Site publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner