Ruben Eugene Boykin Jr. (born June 20, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player who last played for the Sun Rockers Shibuya of the Japanese B.League.[1]

Ruben Boykin, Jr.
Osaka Evessa
PositionAssistant coach
LeagueB.League
Personal information
Born (1985-06-20) June 20, 1985 (age 39)
Los Angeles, California
NationalityAmerican
Listed height201 cm (6 ft 7 in)
Listed weight105 kg (231 lb)
Career information
High schoolUniversity (Los Angeles, California)
CollegeNorthern Arizona (2003–2007)
NBA draft2007: undrafted
Playing career2007–2018
PositionPower forward
Coaching career2019–present
Career history
As player:
2007–2008Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski
2008–2009Aurora Basket Jesi
2009–2010Nuova Pallacanestro Pavia
2010–2011Unione Cestistica Casalpusterlengo
2011–2012Kolossos Rodou B.C.
2012–2013KK Włocławek
2013–2014Akita Northern Happinets
2014–2015Riesen Ludwigsburg
2015–2016BG Göttingen
2016–2017Bambitious Nara
2017–2018Earth Friends Tokyo Z
2018Sun Rockers Shibuya
As coach:
2019–presentOsaka Evessa (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
  • bj league Rebound leader (2014)
  • bj league All-star (2014)

Born in 1985 in Los Angeles, California Ruben lead the team and played varsity basketball for University High School in West Los Angeles and basketball for Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism with a minor in Criminology & Criminal Justice. On June 28, 2007, Ruben went undrafted the 2007 NBA draft making him an Unrestricted Free Agent. Under Pensack Sports Management Group, he played with Atlas Stal Ostrów, Wielkopolski, (Poland) 2007–2008, Aurora Fileni Jesi and Pall. Pavia, Casalpusterlengo (Italy) 2008–2011, VAP Kolossos Rodou (Greece) 2011–2012, BC Anwil, (Poland) 2012–2013, Northern Akita Happinets (Japan) 2013–2015, MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg, (Germany) 2014, BG Gottingen Violets (Germany) 2015–2016. Ruben then played with Bambitious in Nara, Japan, and Tokyo Z during the 2016–2018 under BG Sports Consultancy, LLC. He last signed to B1 (Division 1) Sunrockers Shibuya, in 2018.

In 2015 he founded Train Like A Pro™ and became an exclusive trainer for high school, college and professional athletes continuing and preparing for their professional careers and those desiring to play professional basketball. He was also a Player Development Coach and Trainer for the Los Angeles Clippers Youth Summer League program and currently referees for high school men and women's basketball in Los Angeles, California, and Houston, Texas. He is an active member of the Texas Association of Sports Officials. Some awards and accomplishments Ruben have fulfilled are over the years are:

  • 2007–2008 All-Star Team, Poland
  • 2008–2010 2nd Team All-Italian Team
  • 2013–2014 Japan All-Star Team, EuroBasket.com Import of the Year, 1st Team All Japan, EuroBasket.com Defensive Player of the Year, Basketball Japan’s League Rebound Leader, EuroBasket.com MVP for Japan[2]
  • 2013 & 2014 Seasons Basketball Japan’s Eastern Conference Champions

College statistics

edit
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2003–04 Northern Arizona 29 3 17.0 .429 .000 .683 3.62 0.90 0.31 0.17 4.90
2004–05 Northern Arizona 28 27 29.2 .471 .200 .760 7.29 1.79 1.00 0.36 11.36
2005–06 Northern Arizona 32 30 27.7 .592 .222 .793 7.19 1.88 0.69 0.59 13.28
2006–07 Northern Arizona 30 30 31.8 .516 .432 .769 8.93 3.10 0.77 0.53 16.43
Career 119 90 26.5 .512 .343 .767 6.78 1.92 0.69 0.42 11.58

NCAA Awards & Honors

edit
  • All-Big Sky First Team – 2006, 2007
  • Big Sky All-Tournament Team – 2007

Career statistics

edit
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  Bold  Career high

Regular season

edit
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2007–08 Ostrów Wielkopolski 23 27.0 .503 .246 .756 6.4 1.4 2.1 0.8 11.9
2008–09 Jesi 30 32.2 .529 .364 .769 7.1 1.3 1.5 0.4 11.7
2009–10 Jesi 15 32.1 .500 .297 .818 7.3 1.4 1.9 1.0 12.7
2009–10 Pavia 15 31.6 .471 .273 .742 10.2 1.3 1.7 0.9 14.9
2010–11 Assigeco 30 30.8 .510 .347 .736 8.1 1.2 1.4 0.7 13.5
2011–12 Rodou 35 34 24.4 .464 .308 .764 4.74 0.74 0.54 0.29 8.80
2012–13 Anwil 44 37 25.8 .439 .312 .696 5.82 1.34 0.61 0.57 7.80
2013–14 Akita 52 52 34 47.8% 35.7% 69.6% 13.5 3.5 1.0 0.3 13.9
2014–15 Akita 52 27 26.5 43.0% 36.8% 75.7% 6.9 4.0 0.6 0.5 10.6
2015–16 BG Göttingen 32 5 12.9 39.9% 31.9% 88.2% 2.31 0.97 0.22 0.25 4.88
2016–17 Nara 60 20 17.0 38.4% 31.4% 75.3% 4.8 1.5 0.4 0.3 6.6
2017–18 Tokyo Z 38 10 24.8 44.2% 36.2% 58.0% 6.1 2.1 0.7 0.3 7.1
2017–18 Shibuya 22 0 9.5 40.0% 38.9% 100.0% 2.1 0.8 0.1 0.1 2.5

Playoffs

edit
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2007–08 Ostrów Wielkopolski 7 20.7 .488 .462 .846 4.1 1.7 2.0 0.9 8.1
2008–09 Jesi 5 30.4 .488 .476 .667 7.6 1.2 0.6 0.2 13.6
2011–12 Rodou 11 18.0 .434 .250 .625 2.6 0.9 0.4 0.3 5.5
2012–13 Anwil 10 25.9 .406 .375 1.000 4.7 1.3 1.1 0.2 7.8
2013–14 Akita 6 6 32.00 .492 .464 .783 9.17 2.17 0.67 0.33 15.5
 
Boykin takes down the nets at the Walkup Skydome to celebrate after 2007 conference win

Personal

edit

Wife: Dr. Keyna (Kirklen Cobb) Boykin (Married July 2013) Children: Canaan E. Boykin (Born 2015); Calvary V. Boykin (Born: 2017) His younger brother Jamal is a professional basketball player. He also has two older sisters, Desi and Serena. Father Ruben Sr and mother Mary

References

edit
  1. ^ Asia Basket (4 August 2017). "RUBEN BOYKIN basketball profile". Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  2. ^ "Ruben Boykin Jr. on Facebook". Facebook. Archived from the original on 2022-04-30.[user-generated source]