Taz Sherman Explained

Taz Sherman
Position:Shooting guard
Height Ft:6
Height In:4
Weight Lbs:190
League:Greek Basket League
Team:Lavrio
Birth Date:19 July 1999
Nationality:American
High School:Thurgood Marshall
(Missouri City, Texas)
College:
Draft Year:2022
Career Start:2022
Years1:2022–2023
Team1:Budapest Honvéd
Years2:2023–2024
Team2:Kobrat
Years3:2024–present
Team3:Lavrio
Highlights:
  • Second-team All-Big 12 (2022)
  • Second-team NJCAA DI All-American (2019)
  • NTJCAC Player of the Year (2019)
  • 2× First-team All-NTJCAC (2018, 2019)
  • NTJCAC Freshman of the Year (2018)

Tajzmel "Taz" Sherman (born July 19, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for Lavrio of the Greek Basket League. He played college basketball for the Collin Cougars, and later for the West Virginia Mountaineers.

High school career

Sherman played basketball for Thurgood Marshall High School in Missouri City, Texas. As a senior, he helped his team reach the Class 5A state title game.[1] Despite meeting academic requirements, he received no scholarship offers from NCAA programs, even those in the Division II and Division III.[2] He signed with Collin College, one of two junior colleges to offer him.[3]

College career

As a freshman at Collin College, Sherman averaged 15.2 points per game, earning First Team All-North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference (NTJCAC) and Freshman of the Year honors.[4] [5] In his sophomore season, he scored a career-high 47 points against Grayson College.[6] As a sophomore, Sherman averaged 25.9 points, 4.8 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game.[7] He was named a Second Team NJCAA Division I All-American and NTJCAC Player of the Year.[8]

For his junior season, Sherman transferred to West Virginia over offers from SMU, Utah and Texas Tech.[4] He averaged 5.3 points in 13.1 minutes per game as a junior.[9] On March 2, 2021, Sherman scored a senior season-high 26 points in a 94–89 overtime loss to Baylor. He posted 21 games in double figures scoring during the season, starting six games.[10] As a senior, he finished third on the team in scoring with 13.4 points per game, and helped West Virginia reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Sherman earned All-Big 12 honorable mention recognition. He declared for the 2021 NBA draft before returning to West Virginia for a fifth season of eligibility, granted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11] On November 18, 2021, Sherman scored 27 points in an 87-68 victory over Elon.[12] He was named to the Second Team All-Big 12.[13]

Professional career

Sherman went undrafted in the 2022 NBA draft. On October 22, 2022, he was selected with the 19th pick of the first round in the 2022 NBA G League draft by the Long Island Nets, but he was waived a week later. On October 31, he was acquired by the Birmingham Squadron, but was waived 4 days later. On November 15, was acquired by the Santa Cruz Warriors, but was again waived 5 days later without appearing in a game.

On November 27, 2022, Sherman was signed by Budapesti Honvéd SE in Hungary. He then spent the 2023–2024 season with Kobrat in Finland, before signing with Greek club Lavrio on June 12, 2024.

Career statistics

College

NCAA Division I

|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2019–20| style="text-align:left;"| West Virginia| 31 || 4 || 13.1 || .383 || .333 || .864 || .8 || .8 || .6 || .2 || 5.3|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2020–21| style="text-align:left;"| West Virginia| 28 || 6 || 24.3 || .413 || .359 || .873 || 1.8 || 1.4 || .9 || .1 || 13.4|- class="sortbottom"| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career| 59 || 10 || 18.4 || .403 || .349 || .871 || 1.3 || 1.1 || .7 || .2 || 9.1

JUCO

|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2017–18| style="text-align:left;"| Collin| – || – || – || .471 || .388 || .807 || – || – || – || – || 15.2|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2018–19| style="text-align:left;"| Collin| 29 || 28 || – || .490 || .393 || .875 || 4.8 || 4.8 || 1.6 || .2 || 25.9|- class="sortbottom"| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career| – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || –

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: McDaniel . Jason . Once overlooked, Marshall's Tajzmel Sherman shines at Collin College . . October 16, 2021 . February 22, 2018.
  2. Web site: Jackson . Justin . How Taz Sherman went from unwanted to landing at West Virginia . . October 16, 2021 . August 1, 2019.
  3. Web site: Cummings . Keenan . West Virginia guard Sherman overcomes odds to make it to 'big stage' . . October 17, 2021 . August 5, 2019.
  4. Web site: WVU basketball: Huggins signs 2 guards from junior college ranks . . October 17, 2021 . April 17, 2019.
  5. Web site: NTJCAC All-Conference Basketball Teams . NJCAA Region 5 . October 17, 2021 . March 4, 2018.
  6. Web site: Antonik . John . Life as a Mountaineer – Taz Sherman . West Virginia University Athletics . October 17, 2021 . January 21, 2021.
  7. Web site: Smith . Brad . Taz Makes His Decision . Mountaineer Sports . October 17, 2021 . April 17, 2019.
  8. Web site: NTJCAC All-Conference Men's Basketball Team . NJCAA Region 5 . October 17, 2021 . March 12, 2019.
  9. Withrow . Lauren . Taz Sherman Is First Piece To WVU's Offensive Puzzle . . October 17, 2021 . June 2, 2021.
  10. Web site: Kinder . Kevin . Taz Sherman To Return To WVU . Blue Gold News . October 17, 2021 . June 1, 2021.
  11. Web site: Guard Taz Sherman returning to West Virginia . . . October 17, 2021 . June 1, 2021.
  12. News: Sherman leads WVU over Elon, Bob Huggins ties Roy Williams . November 20, 2021 . . . November 19, 2021.
  13. News: Bock . Ethan . Taz Sherman, Sean McNeil Earn All-Big 12 Honors for West Virginia . March 10, 2022 . WV Sports Now . March 6, 2022.