Reginald Gene Cross (born August 12, 1966) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball with the Miami Dade Sharks and the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. Cross was selected in the 1987 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers but never played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He instead played professionally in the American Continental Basketball Association (CBA) and in France, Spain and Turkey. Cross is the most recent player from the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors to be selected in an NBA draft.

Reggie Cross
Personal information
Born (1966-08-12) August 12, 1966 (age 58)
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
High schoolSouth Plantation (Plantation, Florida)
College
NBA draft1989: 2nd round, 44th overall pick
Selected by the Philadelphia 76ers
Playing career1990–1996
PositionPower forward / center
Career history
1990Grand Rapids Hoops
1990Yakima Sun Kings
1990–1991Grupo IFA Granollers
1991–1992Le Mans Sarthe
1992Palm Beach Stingrays
1992Montreal Dragons
1992Columbus Horizon
1993Winnipeg Thunder
1993–1994Yıldırımspor
1994–1995Efes Pilsen
1995–1996Oyak Renault
Career highlights and awards
  • First-team All-WAC (1989)
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

College career

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Cross emerged as a promising prospect while playing at South Plantation High School in Plantation, Florida, and received multiple scholarship offers from NCAA Division I colleges.[1] However, he was not initially academically eligible and instead played his first two seasons of college basketball with the Miami Dade Sharks.[1] During his sophomore season, he was selected to the All-State Team and named by Basketball Weekly as being among the top junior college transfer candidates.[1] In 1986, Cross was offered a scholarship by the University of Hawaii at Manoa, who had first attempted to recruit him during his high school career.[1] He was required to spend the 1986–87 season at Leeward Community College while not playing basketball to become academically eligible for Hawaii.[1] Cross financially supported himself while taking classes by working full-time as a courier for a legal firm.[1]

Cross made his debut for the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors during the 1987–88 season, and averaged 15.7 points per game.[1] During his senior season in 1988–89, Cross led Hawaii to its first postseason bid since 1974 while averaging 18.6 points per game.[1] Cross was subsequently selected to the All-WAC First Team, while he was named as Hawaii's most outstanding player during both of his seasons with the team.[1][2][3] He gained further attention from NBA teams following a promising showing at an All-Star Game in Japan and earned invites to multiple NBA tryout camps.[1]

Professional career

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Cross was selected in the 1989 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers as the 44th overall pick. He was waived by the 76ers on October 19, 1989.[4] In November 1989 he joined Hapoel Haifa in Israel and played there for 6 months Cross spent the 1990 season in the Continental Basketball Association, splitting his season between the Grand Rapids Hoops and the Yakima Sun Kings.[5] At the end of the 1990 CBA season, Cross joined the Orlando Magic for training camp but did not make the team's final roster.[6] He spent part of the 1990–91 season playing in Spain with the Grupo IFA Granollers,[7] replacing Tom Sheehey.[8]

After a stint in France playing for Le Mans Sarthe during the 1991–92 season, Cross returned to the United States in 1992 to play for the Palm Beach Stingrays of the United States Basketball League (USBL) and the Columbus Horizon of the CBA.[5][9][10] Following the conclusion of the CBA season, he joined the Washington Bullets for training camp but missed time with the team due to an illness in his family.[11] In June 1993 he played for the Winnipeg Thunder of the Canadian National Basketball League after having been part of the Montreal Dragons roster.[12] He spent three consecutive seasons playing in Turkey from 1993 to 1996.[13]

Career statistics

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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

College

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1987–88 Hawaii 29 33.9 .477 .500 .730 8.6 1.1 1.1 .2 15.7
1988–89 Hawaii 30 33.6 .529 .767 8.1 1.0 1.4 .6 18.6
Career 59 33.7 .506 .500 .749 8.3 1.0 1.3 .4 17.2

Personal life

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Cross' first child, a daughter, was born while he was attending Miami Dade.[1] He married the child's mother, Gwenell, in 1986.[1] His second child, a son, was born during his first season at Hawaii.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Winderman, Ira (25 June 1989). "At the End of the Rainbow, Reggie Cross Has Come a Long Way in Search of NBA's Riches". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  2. ^ "4 Lobos join all-stars on WAC honor squad". Farmington Daily Times. 15 March 1989. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  3. ^ Kaneshiro, Jason (3 March 2007). "First team views Wallace fondly". Star Bulletin. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  4. ^ "For the Record". The Washington Post. 19 October 1989. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Reggie Cross CBA Statistics". Stats Crew. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  6. ^ Rohde, Nicole Sarah (26 July 1990). "Fogell may make Magic in rookie camp". Daily Collegian. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  7. ^ "Reggie Cross International Stats". Basketball Reference. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  8. ^ "Reggie Cross". acb.com. Archived from the original on December 10, 2011. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  9. ^ Winston, Sherri (12 June 1992). "Cross Plans to Play Way Into NBA". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  10. ^ "Reggie Cross France Stats". Proballers. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  11. ^ Goldstein, Alan (7 October 1992). "Bullets want medical release for King Exemption to free money for Gugliotta". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  12. ^ "Thunder gives Cross pink slip". Winnipeg Free Press. June 29, 1993. p. 33.
  13. ^ "Reggie Cross Turkish Bio". TBLStat.net. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
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