James Augustine

James Augustine (born February 27, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player who played as a forward. During the career he played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini before being drafted 41st overall in the 2006 NBA draft by the Orlando Magic. Later he relocated in Europe and concluded his playing career for Malaga. Augustine has played over 400 official games in different clubs.

Early life Augustine was born in Midlothian, Illinois, but eventually moved to Mokena, Illinois, where he attended Lincoln-Way Central High School in New Lenox, Illinois where he graduated in 2002. While at Lincoln-Way, Augustine played both football and basketball.

College career Augustine played for the University of Illinois men's basketball team from 2002 to 2006. As a freshman, Augustine was a starter for a team that finished second in the Big Ten. Playing both the power forward and center positions, his career with the Illini included many team records, a trip to the national championship game, and several awards including the Big Ten tournament Most Outstanding Player for his play in the 2005 Big Ten men's basketball tournament. Throughout his college career, Augustine was often complimented by announcers for his athleticism for a big man. Many attributed this ability to the fact that Augustine played Quarterback for his high school football team. Augustine is the first player in school history and just the 12th player in Big Ten history with 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. Augustine finished his college career with 1,383 points and 1,023 rebounds. He is also the school-record holder for career field goal percentage at 61.7 percent (534–865), which also ranks fifth in Big Ten history. Augustine Played in 137 games, starting 134 of them during his college career, the second most games played in school history (tied with Dee Brown).

Professional career Augustine was selected with the 41st pick by the Orlando Magic in the 2006 NBA draft. In August 2008, after playing two seasons in the NBA and its affiliate Development League, Augustine signed with Gran Canaria of the Spanish league.

On July 30, 2010, he signed a one-year contract with Power Electronics Valencia.

In August 2011 he signed with UCAM Murcia.

In May 2012, he signed a contract with the Russian team Khimki.

On July 4, 2016, Augustine signed with CSKA Moscow.

On August 3, 2017, Augustine signed with Spanish club Unicaja for the 2017–18 season. After season he was released from the club.

Retirement On 20 October 2019, at age 35, Augustine announced that he would retire from professional sport. “In summer I thought it was too much. Now I am enjoying life after active sport. I had a very long career," he said.

Augustine has expressed a desire to be a coach in the future.

Career statistics

NBA Regular season

Playoffs

EuroLeague Led the league

Domestic leagues

Season Team League 2006–07 Anaheim Arsenal D-League 8 27.4 .679 – .818 8.9 .9 1.0 .8 10.1 2008–09 Gran Canaria Liga ACB 35 24.1 .568 .200 .667 6.1 .9 .9 .8 7.7 2009–10 36 24.7 .506 .167 .839 7.1 1.0 1.0 .4 8.6 2010–11 Power Electronics Valencia 17 15.8 .448 .000 1.000 4.2 .5 .4 .2 4.2 2011–12 UCAM Murcia 34 27.0 .614 .500 .711 8.3 1.2 1.1 .9 12.7 2012–13 Khimki Russian PBL 12 19.8 .563 – .765 5.0 1.5 1.0 .3 7.1 VTB United League 25 19.6 .614 .000 .571 5.1 1.3 .6 .6 6.6 2013–14 19 24.8 .710 .500 .741 6.8 1.4 1.1 1.1 12.7 2014–15 27 20.9 .605 .167 .742 5.7 1.4 .9 .7 9.0

Records and awards Augustine holds the school record for career rebounds with 1,023. This feat was last accomplished Indiana's by Alan Henderson, who played from 1992 to 1995. Augustine holds the school record for career field goal percentage at 61.7 appearing in 8 games and averaging 10 points and eight rebounds. He recorded 4 double-doubles in his 8 games. Augustine made his first appearance in a regular-season game on February 2, 2007, against the New Jersey Nets, recording two points, two assists, and three rebounds in four minutes of playing time.

Personal life His uncle, Jerry Augustine, played professional baseball for the MLB's Milwaukee Brewers from 1975 to 1984 and was the head baseball coach at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee for the 1995–2006 seasons. Augustine is also the cousin of former NFL safety Nick Sorensen.