Former Kansas State basketball guard Jacob Pullen signed a contract with the Philadelphia 76ers on Sept. 21 after spending the majority of his basketball career overseas.
Pullen, who is K-State’s all-time leading scorer with 2,132 points, is returning home to the US. He will participate in the Sixers training camp alongside Kris Humphries, who was a reserve for the Atlanta Hawks last season.
Pullen’s career at K-State illustrated plenty of potential in the professional league, as he averaged 16 points per game. As a freshman, Pullen helped upset then ranked No. 2 University of Kansas, and he achieved a season high of 20 points during that game.
Pullen was one of the two players that started all 34 games in the 2008-2009 season and reached another season high of 38 points against Kansas.
Pullen’s junior season was highlighted by an upset over the undefeated Texas Longhorns. In that same season, the Wildcats reached the finals of the Big 12 tournament, the best result in program history.
By the time Pullen was a senior, he had broken K-State records, brought the Wildcats to the NCAA tournament three of the four years he was there (including to the Elite Eight in 2010) and picked up many prestigious accolades such as All-Big 12 Team and Fourth Team All-American.
In the 2011 NBA Draft, Pullen went as an undrafted free agent and was later picked up to play in the Italian Lega Basket Serie A for the 2011-2012 season.
In 2012, Pullen was able to increase his career options. He was granted citizenship to the country of Georgia, which allowed him to play for the Georgian national team. Pullen competed with the Georgian national team at the 2015 European Basketball Championship, where they qualified but fell in the group stage of the tournament.
Since then, Pullen has played in professional basketball leagues in Israel, Spain, Croatia and most recently Russia for BC Khimki.
The 6-foot-1-inch guard played 17 games for BC Khimki and averaged 10.3 points per game.
Pullen is not unfamiliar to the Philadelphia 76ers organization, as he was part of their summer league in 2012.
NBA rules state that teams are allowed to have 20 players during training camp, which gets cut down to a roster of 15 players when season begins.
Due to team policy, the details of Pullen’s contract are not allowed to be disclosed.
