Know Your Team: Jordan Jensen-Whyte
London Lightning
6'5
Forward
From Calgary, Alberta
Bringing a wealth of basketball experience and a high-energy, high-percentage style of play, Jordan Jensen-Whyte returned to the NBL Canada with a vengeance for his second stint in the 2022 season.
A product of Western Canada High School in his native Calgary, in 2012 Jensen-Whyte joined the UBC Thunderbirds, playing his five years of USports eligibility with the team in the outskirts of Vancouver.
Ahead of his final year he represented Canada at the 2017 University Games where, after three group wins and two losses, the team finished tenth overall in the basketball tournament. Back in Canada, he ended his UBC career with a season-high 33 points against the Manitoba Bisons on February 24th 2017.
He began playing professionally in Canada, signing with the St. John's Edge in 2017, but his time playing was cut short with a season-ending knee injury. Having recovered he turned his attention back to 3x3 basketball, a variation he had previously represented Canada for in the 2011 Under-18 World Championships, where they finished in seventh place.
He joined Edmonton ahead of the 2019 3x3 World Tour, winning the team's second tournament of the season in Nanjing. From there they went on to play in six Masters tournaments on the tour, which included a repeat of their earlier victory in Nanjing, finishing second in the Montreal Masters and third in their hometown challenger tournament.
He and Edmonton were absent from the tour in 2020, but returned to action the following years, where they were narrowly denied a place in the knockout round of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Austria. With the team Jensen Whyte also competed in two masters tournaments but their highest tournament finish on the year was eighth in Montreal.
In late 2021, Jensen-Whyte made the return to five-a-side basketball and the NBLC when he signed with the London Lightning. After a multiple-year absence from the league, he got back to business putting up double digits in two of his first three games with the Lightning.
He recorded a career-high 18 points against Flint United on April 3rd, only to better it days later against the same team. Playing all 48 minutes he lead all on the floor with 29 points and 16 rebounds - a performance that earned him Canadian of the Week honors.
Jordan Jensen Whyte may have had a rocky start to his professional career, but back on the NBL Canada boards he is clearly making up for lost time - much to the appreciation of the home fans in London.
