Julius Hodge
From WolfpackWiki
Julius Melvin Hodge (born November 18, 1983 in Harlem, New York, New York) is an American professional basketball player. He was recently released at his request in his second season with the Adelaide 36ers in the Australian NBL.[1]
Hodge was selected 20th overall in the 2005 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets. He played four years at North Carolina State University. ACC Player of the Year during the 2003-2004 season, Hodge finished his college career by leading State to the Sweet 16.
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[edit] High school
As a senior at St. Raymond High School for Boys, operated by the De La Salle Christian Brothers, in the Bronx, New York, Hodge was part of the 2001 McDonald's All-American Team and the First-team Parade All-American, New York's "Mr. Basketball", New York Daily News Player of the Year, New York All-Metro Squad, and Sports Illustrated's Old Spice Athlete of the Month. He scored a total of 684 points his senior season, setting the school record at St. Raymond High School, and left rated as the No. 1 shooting guard by ESPN and No. 5 nationally.
[edit] College
As a freshman with the Pack, he was the leading freshman scorer in the ACC, averaging 10.7 points per game. He was named to second-team All-ACC Tournament team, after averaging 12.3 points. He earned the Lorenzo Charles Offensive Rebounding Award for 2002, Dick Vitale's "Diaper Dandy" and ranked 20th in the ACC in rebounding. He scored a double-double in his first collegiate game and his first ACC game. He was the only Pack player with multiple double-doubles for the 2001-2002 season.
For the 2002-2003 campaign, Hodge was selected as a first team All-ACC player. He recorded four career-highs during the three day run to the finals of the ACC tournament. He recorded his seventh double-double during the ACC final game and ranked seventh in free throw percentage for the season. During this season he recorded the first-ever triple-double in Wolfpack history, and was named ACC Player of the Week after leading the Pack to back-to-back victories against Duke and North Carolina. He was one of 17 finalists to make the U.S. Pan AM games squad and Dick Vitale put him on his "All-Rolls Royce Team". He was one of the 50 preseason candidates for the Wooden Award.
Hodge was the 2003-04 ACC Player of the Year. He finished his career as the third-leading scorer in school history with 2,040 points. Hodge also saw more career action than any player in Wolfpack history, his 4,258 career minutes was a school record, while his 129 career games played ranks fourth. He set the school record for free throws made with 596 for his career and his 784 attempts rank second. He finished his career fourth in school history with 454 career assists, 10th in steals (161), fifth in offensive rebounds (255), sixth in field goals attempted (665), 10th in field goal attempted (1,407). Hodge was only the third player in ACC history to go over 2,000 points, 400 assists and 700 rebounds for a career.
[edit] NBA
Hodge was projected to go in the mid to late first round in the 2005 NBA Draft, he was chosen in the first round as the 20th pick by the Denver Nuggets. He appeared in 14 games for the Nuggets in the 2005-06 season while averaging only 0.9 points in 2.4 minutes.
On January 5, 2007, Hodge started in his first career NBA game, against the Los Angeles Lakers. Six days later he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks along with Earl Boykins for Steve Blake. On February 7 of that year, Hodge was waived by the Bucks. Later that year he played for the 2007 Seattle SuperSonics summer league team.
[edit] Europe
On August 10, 2007, Hodged signed with Italian Serie A team Cimberio Varese. Midway through the season, he transferred to fellow Serie A team Legea Scafati.
[edit] NBL (Australia) 2007
On December 21, 2007, Hodge signed with the Adelaide 36ers in the Australian NBL as their second import to replace the outgoing Mike Chappell. He finished his contract with Italian Serie A team Legea Scafati and arrived in Adelaide on December 23 after making trips to his hometown New York. He made his debut for the 36ers against the South Dragons helping them to a victory. On January 29, Hodge was rewarded with the league's player of the week for round 19 after averaging 27 points, 4 rebounds and 4.5 assists in the two games the 36ers played, which included a dominant performance of 39 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists against the Cairns Taipans. On February 2, Hodge became the first 36er since Robert Rose in 1994 to record a triple double (24 points, 12 rebounds, 13 assists). A few days after, on February 5, Hodge won his second and back-to-back player of the week for Round 20 after averaging 31 points, 10.5 rebounds and 9.5 assists, which also included a performance of 37 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists in the 36ers lost to the Gold Coast Blaze. On February 12, Hodge won his third consecutive player of the week for round 21 by having another dominant performance of 31 points, 14 rebounds and 9 assists in the 36ers win against the Cairns Taipans. Hodge became just the second player to win the award three times (Chris Anstey is the other player to do so), and the first player to win it three times consecutively during the season. Despite only playing half of the season in the league, Hodge was rewarded with the All NBL Third Team for his efforts with the 36ers. Hodge then bid for his return to the NBA by trying out with the New Jersey Nets, but couldn't make the regular season roster despite signing a 2 year non-guaranteed contract.
[edit] NBL (Australia) 2008
On November 15, 2008, Hodge re-signed with the Adelaide 36ers replacing outgoing import Mark Tyndale. In the first week of his return to the NBL, Hodge won another NBL Player of the Week award for round 10, averaging 26.5 points per game, 10.5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 1 steal, despite the 36ers losing the two games he played in. This included a dominant performance of 27 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists against the South Dragons, and the praise of opposition coach Brian Goorjian, who coached the Australian Boomers in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, saying that he was "possibly the best player in the league." On December 30, 2008, Hodge won his second NBL Player of the Week award of the season for round 15, after having scored 31 points (whilst shooting 13 of 19 from the field at a 68% clip) and pulling 8 rebounds to lead the '36ers in a crucial road victory over the Melbourne Tigers. On January 7, 2009, Hodge sat out of the '36ers home game against the Wollongong Hawks due to a pay dispute. On January 8, 2009, the Adelaide 36ers held a press conference announcing that they have released Julius Hodge from his contract at the request of his agent.
[edit] Highway shooting
After visiting a nightclub on April 8, 2006, Hodge was on Interstate 76 in north Denver around 2:00 a.m. when another vehicle pulled alongside his and fired several shots. Hodge was told he came within 5 minutes of bleeding to death. The case has yet to be solved.
[edit] Personal
Hodge was named by his older brother after NBA legend Julius Erving.
