Jelani Gardner

Jelani Akil Gardner (born December 26, 1975) is an American-French basketball coach and former professional player. He is 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) in height. He played mainly at the shooting guard position, but also at the point guard and small forward positions. He played with the Milton Keynes Lions Basketball Club until he was released in January 2011.

College career After playing high school basketball at St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, California, Gardner played college basketball at the University of California. However, when his parents became disenchanted with their son's lack of playing time, they revealed to the NCAA that Todd Bozeman, Cal's head coach, had paid them about $30,000 over a two-year period so his parents could attend Jelani's games.

After the scandal broke, Gardner transferred to Pepperdine.

Finally, in 2002, after playing with kidney disease for 7 years, Gardner reached the critical stage of his condition and received a kidney transplant from his mother that year.