Wally Judge

Wallace Eugene Judge Jr. (born August 24, 1990) is an American professional basketball player. He played high school basketball at Arlington Country Day School in Jacksonville, Florida, where he was a 5-star recruit and a McDonald's All-American in his senior year in 2009 where he averaged 20.8 points and 20.4 rebounds a game. He then played his freshman and sophomore seasons of college basketball with the Kansas State Wildcats, and then transferred to Rutgers, where he played his final two years of eligibility. After going undrafted in the 2014 NBA draft, Judge started a professional career in Europe with Italian team Victoria Libertas Pesaro. Throughout his career he has played in the top leagues of Argentina, Finland, Israel and Italy.

High school career Judge was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Wallace Sr. and Rosemary (née Yorn). He initially attended Bladensburg High School in Bladensburg, Maryland, and he was part of the varsity team starting his freshman year. In his sophomore season at Bladensburg, Judge averaged 14 points and 11 rebounds per game, and was an Honorable Mention in the All-Met team selected by the Washington Post. At Arlington Country Day, Judge was a starter and was considered the team's best player together with Rodney McGruder; ESPN ranked him the 15th best player in the nation, while Hoop Scoop ranked him the 5th best player overall. He was selected in the ESPN Rise All-American First Team, and was a second-team Parade All-American. He scored 18 points and had 7 rebounds as a member of the White team during the 2009 Jordan Brand Classic, while he did not play in the McDonald's game due to an injury to his back occurred during a practice session.

Recruiting

College career

Judge was recruited by several major NCAA Division I programs, and received offers from Georgetown, Kansas State, Maryland, Villanova and Virginia, among others; In a 2019 article, 247Sports.com mentioned him as the top player signed by KSU in the 2000–2009 decade. Coach Frank Martin put Judge in the rotation as a reserve, and over 36 appearances in his freshman year, Judge had 6 starts. Judge wore jersey number 33 and debuted with the Wildcats on November 13, 2009, scoring 5 points against Loyola; two days later, he had his first double-digits scoring game with 11 against Western Illinois. and he posted improved averages of 5.5 points and 3.9 rebounds in 15.2 minutes per game, but he decided to leave the team in January. He declared himself available to transfer, and in May 2011 he opted to transfer to Rutgers, choosing the Scarlet Knights over Maryland

Due to NCAA transfer rules, Judge had to redshirt the entire 2011–12 season, and was eligible to play for Rutgers in the 2012–13 season.

Judge was confirmed in the starting lineup for his senior season under newly appointed coach Eddie Jordan.

College statistics

Professional career After the end of his college career, Judge was automatically eligible for the 2014 NBA draft, where he went undrafted. In early August 2014, Italian Serie A team Victoria Libertas Pesaro announced the signing of Judge on a one-year contract. Judge made his debut with Pesaro October 12, 2014, in a game against Brindisi, scoring 4 points and grabbing 3 rebounds in 16 minutes of play. Judge played a total of 30 games during the 2014–15 Lega Basket Serie A, averaging 9 points, 7 rebounds and 0.6 blocks in 24.2 minutes of playing time playing as a center.

In June 2015 Judge announced that he was leaving Pesaro, and signed a two-year contract with Israeli team Hapoel Tel Aviv. Judge played only 2 games during the 2015–16 Israeli Basketball Super League, and scored 1 total point in 16.5 minutes of average playing time. He then transferred to Argentine side Peñarol de Mar del Plata: he appeared in 3 games during the 2015–16 Liga Nacional de Básquet season, and averaged 5.7 points and 4 rebounds per game.

In 2016 Judge signed with Tampereen Pyrintö of the Finnish Korisliiga, and he played 17 games in the 2016–17 season, averaging 10.9 points and 9.3 rebounds per game in 28.6 minutes per game, all career highs as a professional player.

Present day Judge is a management trainee in the Aldi (Albrecht Foods) stores in the northeast United States. He has 3 cats.