T.J. Starks

Tahjon Komar "TJ" Starks (born September 11, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Jiangsu Dragons of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for Texas A&M and Cal State Northridge.

Early life Starks attended Lancaster High School and played under head coach Ferrin Douglas. As a junior, he averaged 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists per game. Starks led the Tigers to its second consecutive Class 5A State Championship and scored 20 points during the championship-game win against Elkins High School. As a senior, he was selected as the 2017 5A Region II District 10 Offensive Player of the Year as well as a Class 5A All-State selection by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches. Starks was regarded as a three-star prospect and committed to Texas A&M in June 2016 over an offer from Oklahoma.

College career As a freshman, Starks made 15 starts and averaged 9.9 points and 2.3 assists per game. He made a buzzer-beating three-pointer on January 12, 2019, to propel the Aggies to an 81–80 win over Alabama. On February 26, Starks sustained a right shoulder injury in a loss against LSU, which required hospitalization and forced him to miss the rest of the season. He averaged 12.3 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game as a sophomore. Starks missed the first two games of his junior season with an ankle injury he sustained during an exhibition game. On November 14, 2019, he was suspended indefinitely due to being arrested for possession of two ounces or less of marijuana.

Starks entered the transfer portal and was contacted by Mo Williams, an assistant coach at Cal State Northridge. Despite not being familiar with the program, he committed to the Matadors over interest from DePaul. Starks sat out the rest of the season as a redshirt and was expected to help replace the production of the departing Lamine Diane and Terrell Gomez. On February 19, 2021, he scored a career-high 31 points in a 75–74 loss to Hawaii. As a redshirt junior, Starks averaged 21.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Following the season, he declared for the 2021 NBA draft.

Professional career On September 5, 2021, Starks signed his first professional contract with Rytas Vilnius of the Lithuanian Basketball League. He did not play for Rytas, and in October 2021, he was named in the training camp roster for the Wisconsin Herd of the NBA G League after a successful tryout. He did not play for Wisconsin, In 10 games for Nevėžis, he averaged 18.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. In six games, he averaged 13.2 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game. On January 8, 2024, he parted ways with the team. On January 14, 2024, he signed with Juventus Utena of the Lithuanian Basketball League until the end of the 2023–24 season.

In August 2024, Starks signed with Astana of the Kazakhstan Championship for the 2024–25 season.

On October 3, 2025, Starks signed with the Tasmania JackJumpers of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) as an injury replacement for David Johnson. He parted ways with the JackJumpers on November 6, 2025.