Pooh Jeter takes his shot with Timberwolves

Ex-UP guard joins Kevin Love, Bryce Taylor on Minnesota's summer-league team

By Victoria Nguyen

The Portland Tribune, Jul 14, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Pooh Jeter celebrates an NBDL playoff win in April by the Colorado 14ers over the Albuquerque Thunderbirds.

GARRETT W. ELLWOOD / GETTY IMAGES

After almost a year of competition in Ukraine’s Euroleague, former University of Portland point guard Pooh Jeter is back in United States for another shot at the Las Vegas Summer League.

Jeter, 24, will suit up for the Minnesota Timberwolves alongside former UCLA forward Kevin Love and ex-Duck guard Bryce Taylor.

As a Pilot, the 5-11 Jeter led the team in scoring his junior and senior years and finished his career as the school’s second-all time leading scorer.

After playing for the Kings’ summer league team in 2006, Jeter was selected 27th overall by the Colorado 14ers in NBA’s Developmental League draft. He averaged 14.4 points per game for the 14ers and spent the summer playing for the D-League Ambassadors, averaging 10.8 points and 2.0 assists in the Stankovic Cup, an international event played in China.

In August, he signed with BC Kyiv.

“My first year experience in Europe was great,” says Jeter, from Gardena, Calf. “I really enjoyed my time in Ukraine. Having a driver, a cook and a maid was real cool.”

After posting 11.8 points per game for BC Kyiv, Jeter earned a spot in the Superleague All-Star game.

“This is my second year being a professional basketball player, and I made history playing in two first-ever all star games,” Jeter says. “Last year, in the first-ever All Star game in the NBA D-League, and this year, in Ukraine.”

While in Ukraine, Jeter missed “everything about the U.S.,” from the food to the weather.

“There were five Americans on my team and other people from different countries,” he says. “Everybody on my team and in the organization speaks English, so that made my transition a lot easier.”

Jeter, whose birth name is Eugene Jeter III, also fielded questions about the origins of “Pooh.”

“People ask me about my nickname all the time,” Jeter says. “Ukrainians knew Winnie the Pooh, which was great. They would laugh at first, but they loved it.”

When he returned to the U.S. in the spring, Jeter got to work in the weight room and on the basketball court.

Jeter also followed the progress of his sister, Carmelita Jeter, at U.S. Olympic track and field trials in Eugene. Carmelita Jeter, 29, qualified for the finals in 100 and the 200 meters and placed sixth in the 200.

Even though he participated in the Toronto Raptors’ mini-camp, Jeter decided to play for Minnesota’s summer-league team.

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