Aaron Vincent Craft (born February 12, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for AS Monaco of the LNB Pro A. He played college basketball for Ohio State University.
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High school career
Craft attended Liberty-Benton High School near Findlay, Ohio and graduated valedictorian of his class. He was the Ohio Division III player of the year his senior year (2009-10 season). He averaged 26 points, 7 assists and 8 rebounds as a senior with 70 steals (3.2 per game). His freshman year he was the starting point guard for their state runner-up team. In his four years, his teams went 88-5.
In football, he was a two-time All-Ohio selection and was the Ohio Division V player of the year (2008 season). During his junior year his team finished state runner-up in Division V football. In three years of football Craft accumulated over 11,000 yards of total offenses, passing for 6,800 yards and rushing for 4,700 yards both school records. He had a career 73.7% passing percentage. He was the starting quarterback for three years opting out of football his senior year to focus on basketball. In those three years his teams had a 38-4 record.
During Craft's high school years he played on the All-Ohio Red AAU basketball team, with future Ohio State teammates Jared Sullinger and J.D. Weatherspoon, winning three consecutive National Championships. They were the only team to win the AAU Nationals at three different age levels.
While growing up Craft's father, John Craft, stressed the importance of defense and how it was more important to be a good defensive player than offensive player. When Craft was in 2nd and 3rd grade, his father, who coached the junior high basketball team, let him join defensive drills during the team practice. One of such drills that Craft remembers as grueling was getting into a defensive stance, and slide back and forth across the foul lane while holding onto bricks.
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College career
Craft was the sixth man for the Ohio State Buckeyes basketball team playing the point guard position as a freshman. He had recorded the fifth highest minutes played on the team. He led his team in assists (177) and steals (73). Craft set a school record 15 assists in a game during a NCAA tournament game against George Mason.
As a sophomore, he was highly decorated and even featured in Time.
As a sophomore, Craft was the catalyst of the 31-8 Men's Ohio State basketball Team. Craft improved his offensive output as a sophomore and expanded his offensive role. He was an efficient scorer, shooting 50% from the field. But his long-range game could improve, only shooting 35.9%. Craft is not known for his shooting but more for his passing and low number of turnovers, with a 2.15 assist to turnover ratio.
During his sophomore season Craft averaged 8.8 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 4.6 APG, and 2.5 SPG.
In his junior year at Ohio State, Craft passed former Buckeye Guard Jay Burson for most steals in school history with 205. In the third round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament against Iowa State, he hit a game-winning three with 0.5 seconds left to send the Buckeyes to the Sweet 16.
Craft is the fourth player in Big Ten history to be a three time first team Academic All-America selection and the third athlete in Division I history to repeat as Division I Men's Basketball Academic All-America Team Member of the Year. Craft graduated from Ohio State with a Bachelor of Science degree in nutrition sciences.
College statistics
Professional career
2014-15 season
After going undrafted in the 2014 NBA draft, Craft participated in the 2014 NBA Summer League, joining the Philadelphia 76ers for the Orlando session and the Golden State Warriors for the Las Vegas session. On September 2, 2014, he signed with the Warriors. However, he was later waived by the Warriors on October 24, 2014. On November 3, 2014, he was acquired by the Santa Cruz Warriors as an affiliate player. On November 14, he made his professional debut in a 122-95 win over the Los Angeles D-Fenders, recording five points, four rebounds, eight assists and two steals in 32 minutes. On April 10, 2015, he was named the 2015 D-League Defensive Player of the Year and on April 26, 2015, he won the D-League championship with the Warriors.
2015-16 season
In July 2015, Craft re-joined the Golden State Warriors for the 2015 NBA Summer League, where he broke the Warriors' Las Vegas assists record for a single summer. Craft had 27 assists in the Summer League, breaking the old mark of 23, set by Brian Chase in 2010.
On August 6, 2015, Craft signed with Szolnoki Olaj KK of the Nemzeti Bajnokság I/A in Hungary. In December 2015, he left Szolnoki after appearing in 12 league games and 10 Eurocup games. On January 7, 2016, he was reacquired by the Santa Cruz Warriors. The next day, he made his season debut for the Warriors in a 101-89 loss to the Iowa Energy, recording eight points, two rebounds, eight assists and four steals in 37 minutes. At the season's end, he earned NBA D-League All-Defensive Team honors for the second year in a row.
2016-17 season
On July 31, 2016, Craft signed with Aquila Basket Trento of Italy for the 2016-17 season.
2017-18 season
On July 2, 2017, Craft signed with AS Monaco.
Personal
Craft is a Christian. Craft has spoken about his faith saying, "That's the biggest thing that keeps me humble and keeps things in perspective for me" and "I choose to be a Christian, a student and then an athlete." Craft has put his favorite Bible verse, Romans 5:8, on his basketball shoes.
Craft is one-fourth Filipino through his paternal grandmother.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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