Know Your Team: Chris Early

Saint John Riptide

6’7

Forward

From Huntington, West Virginia

Big, powerful and consistent, the Saint John Riptide took a chance on Chris Early and have seen it pay off, as he has become an unlikely sensation for the team.

Early started out in his home state for Huntington High School, where he was a team mate of Patrick Patterson and OJ Mayo. With the team he won three consecutive state titles, and was himself ranked the 27th best shooting guard of 2008 by Rivals.com.

From there, he played four seasons with the Chattanooga Mocs, becoming the starting small forward in junior year, where he averaged 9.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. He also played in the 2009 NCAA Division 1 Championship, but could not make it past the first round, as the Moc lost 103-47 to Connecticut. At the end of his time in Chattanooga, he had averaged 6.0 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.

His NCAA career over, he returned home and joined the West Virginia Miners in the IBA. In the 2016-17 NBL Canada season he appeared in five games for Saint John.

He now finds himself back in Saint John this season, though he was chosen by the St. John's Edge with the ninth overall pick in this year's entry draft. He so far has appeared in seven games for the Riptide, starting in all, and has averaged 15.7 points and 6.7 rebounds.

The good news for the Riptide is that the season's still young, and if he continues the form he's shown so far, there's still much more he can do for them.