Jagdeep Singh (basketball)

Jagdeep Singh Bains (Hindi: जगदीप सिंह; born January 10, 1986) is an Indian professional basketball player for the Mumbai Challengers of the UBA Pro Basketball League. He spent his first seven seasons with Punjab Police Jalandhar in the Indian National Basketball Championship. Singh was dismissed from Punjab in 2012 and suffered a career-threatening injury. He returned to basketball in 2016, when he signed with the Challengers. Singh competes with the India national basketball team at the FIBA Asia Championship. He has played with the team on over 20 occasions.

Early life

Singh was born on January 10, 1986 in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan. His father coached athletics, and Jagdeep was a runner. Due to his exceptional height, he drew the attention of a local basketball coach in 2002. Singh joined the Rajasthan team in the following year, competing in school nationals. He was soon noticed by coach Sankaran Subramanian, and he was invited to the prestigious Ludhiana Basketball Academy in Ludhiana, Punjab. Subramanian trained Singh for five to six hours each day, and he taught him fundamental basketball skills.

International career

Shortly after becoming a part of Ludhiana Basketball Academy early in his career, Singh joined the India junior national team. At age 19, he became a member of the senior team. Singh competed for India at both the FIBA Asia Championship 2007 and FIBA Asia Championship 2009. He averaged 11.4 points per game at the 2007 tournament for the 15th placed Indians. In 2009, he averaged a team-leading 7.8 rebounds per game as the Indian team improved to a 13th place finish. In both of India's victories, he was the game-leading rebounder, grabbing 10 against Indonesia and 15 against Uzbekistan.