Reggie Cross

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Reggie Cross

| image =

| image_size =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1966|8|12}}

| birth_place = Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 8

| weight_lbs = 245

| high_school = South Plantation (Plantation, Florida)

| college =

Miami Dade (1984–1986)
Hawaii (1987–1989)

| draft_year = 1989

| draft_round = 2

| draft_pick = 44

| draft_team = Philadelphia 76ers

| career_start = 1989

| career_end = 1996

| career_position = Power forward / center

| career_number =

| years1 = 1989–1990

| team1 = Hapoel Haifa

| years2 = 1990

| team2 = Grand Rapids Hoops

| years3 = 1990

| team3 = Yakima Sun Kings

| years4 = 1990–1991

| team4 = Grupo IFA Granollers

| years5 = 1991–1992

| team5 = Le Mans Sarthe

| years6 = 1992

| team6 = Palm Beach Stingrays

| years7 = 1992

| team7 = Montreal Dragons

| years8 = 1992

| team8 = Columbus Horizon

| years9 = 1993

| team9 = Winnipeg Thunder

| years10 = 1993–1994

| team10 = Yıldırımspor

| years11 = 1994–1995

| team11 = Efes Pilsen

| years12 = 1995–1996

| team12 = Oyak Renault

| highlights =

First-team All-WAC (1989)

}}

Reginald Gene Cross (born August 12, 1966) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball with the Miami Dade Sharks and the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. Cross was selected in the 1987 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers but never played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He instead played professionally in the American Continental Basketball Association (CBA) and in France, Spain and Turkey. Cross is the most recent player from the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors to be selected in an NBA draft.

College career

Cross emerged as a promising prospect while playing at South Plantation High School in Plantation, Florida, and received multiple scholarship offers from NCAA Division I colleges.{{cite web |last1=Winderman |first1=Ira |title=At the End of the Rainbow, Reggie Cross Has Come a Long Way in Search of NBA's Riches |url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1989-06-25-8902010574-story.html |website=Sun-Sentinel |accessdate=10 December 2019 |date=25 June 1989}} However, he was not initially academically eligible and instead played his first two seasons of college basketball with the Miami Dade Sharks. During his sophomore season, he was selected to the All-State Team and named by Basketball Weekly as being among the top junior college transfer candidates. In 1986, Cross was offered a scholarship by the University of Hawaii at Manoa, who had first attempted to recruit him during his high school career. He was required to spend the 1986–87 season at Leeward Community College while not playing basketball to become academically eligible for Hawaii. Cross financially supported himself while taking classes by working full-time as a courier for a legal firm.

Cross made his debut for the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors during the 1987–88 season, and averaged 15.7 points per game. During his senior season in 1988–89, Cross led Hawaii to its first postseason bid since 1974 while averaging 18.6 points per game. Cross was subsequently selected to the All-WAC First Team, while he was named as Hawaii's most outstanding player during both of his seasons with the team.{{cite news |title=4 Lobos join all-stars on WAC honor squad |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/farmington-daily-times-mar-15-1989-p-13/?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=930568b2a055b0e6a89736fb48b5fb0cc8237821-1575976438-0-AXaXcqW7i8x7SyHbUhLdQWZWbmgb9pOfQoXacD62clE2387TDgIhFFrf8uEK5LDSIDt5wR57wkRsmB2Kz-6lRLb1fDJl87wlllqOAvUf-hEEmrf6MT0fBUcSovMCSEOmuM-J4UuHge-ytQ5vjhJnlQQ2jizGJ4fPQF3zobx5pzakWaQ0CJ-2Vxm93SfMeEmazHTcuWgwFUbQ7JvvFws87ewzrWJS5eVvu70UqDb6dk2vaD8ztcmM6wx6FerCmOchPc9v4X8MvotXhXhasYXnfNO0t3rssojDUMtrXBPn1RjYzCPs5TFX5kQkcdOdGRXQ2w |accessdate=10 December 2019 |work=Farmington Daily Times |date=15 March 1989}}{{cite web |last1=Kaneshiro |first1=Jason |title=First team views Wallace fondly |url=http://archives.starbulletin.com/2007/03/03/sports/story02.html |website=Star Bulletin |accessdate=10 December 2019 |date=3 March 2007}} He gained further attention from NBA teams following a promising showing at an All-Star Game in Japan and earned invites to multiple NBA tryout camps.

Professional career

Cross was selected in the 1989 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers as the 44th overall pick. He was waived by the 76ers on October 19, 1989.{{cite web |title=For the Record |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1989/10/19/for-the-record/a5818ab9-deb7-4aca-9647-1f8877275de5/ |website=The Washington Post |accessdate=10 December 2019 |date=19 October 1989}} On December 2, 1989, Cross signed with Hapoel Haifa in Israel to join the team until April 1990.{{cite news |title=Cross to sign with Israeli team today |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/honolulu-star-advertiser-cross-to-sign-w/163352597/ |access-date=January 18, 2025 |work=Honolulu Star-Advertiser |date=December 2, 1989 |page=7 |via=Newspapers.com}} Cross joined the Orlando Magic for training camp in 1990 but did not make the team's final roster.{{cite web |last1=Rohde |first1=Nicole Sarah |title=Fogell may make Magic in rookie camp |url=https://www.collegian.psu.edu/archives/article_aab6e823-05ab-56f9-bffa-1a3a773c7860.html |website=Daily Collegian |accessdate=10 December 2019 |date=26 July 1990}} He spent part of the 1990–91 season playing in Spain with the Grupo IFA Granollers,{{cite web |title=Reggie Cross International Stats |url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/international/players/reggie-cross-1.html |website=Basketball Reference |accessdate=10 December 2019}} replacing Tom Sheehey.{{Cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111210032914/http://www.acb.com/jugador.php?id=AKE|url=http://www.acb.com/jugador.php?id=AKE|title=Reggie Cross|website=acb.com|archivedate=December 10, 2011|access-date=December 27, 2019}} Cross spent the remaining 1990–91 season in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), splitting his season between the Grand Rapids Hoops and the Yakima Sun Kings.{{cite web |title=Reggie Cross CBA Statistics |url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbasketball/stats/p-crossreg001 |website=Stats Crew |accessdate=10 December 2019}}

After a stint in France playing for Le Mans Sarthe during the 1991–92 season, Cross returned to the United States in 1992 to play for the Palm Beach Stingrays of the United States Basketball League (USBL) and the Columbus Horizon of the CBA.{{cite web |last1=Winston |first1=Sherri |title=Cross Plans to Play Way Into NBA |url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1992-06-12-9202140208-story.html |website=Sun-Sentinel |accessdate=11 December 2019 |date=12 June 1992}}{{cite web |title=Reggie Cross France Stats |url=https://www.proballers.com/basketball/player/74772/reggie-cross |website=Proballers |accessdate=10 December 2019}} Following the conclusion of the CBA season, he joined the Washington Bullets for training camp but missed time with the team due to an illness in his family.{{cite web |last1=Goldstein |first1=Alan |title=Bullets want medical release for King Exemption to free money for Gugliotta |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1992-10-07-1992281138-story.html |website=The Baltimore Sun |accessdate=10 December 2019 |date=7 October 1992}} In June 1993 he played for the Winnipeg Thunder of the Canadian National Basketball League after having been part of the Montreal Dragons roster.{{Cite news|title=Thunder gives Cross pink slip|newspaper=Winnipeg Free Press|date=June 29, 1993|page=33}} He spent three consecutive seasons playing in Turkey from 1993 to 1996.{{cite web |title=Reggie Cross Turkish Bio |url=https://www.tblstat.net/player/980 |website=TBLStat.net |accessdate=10 December 2019}}

Career statistics

=College=

| style="text-align:left;"| 1987–88

| style="text-align:left;"| Hawaii

| 29 || – || 33.9 || .477 || .500 || .730 || 8.6 || 1.1 || 1.1 || .2 || 15.7

| style="text-align:left;"| 1988–89

| style="text-align:left;"| Hawaii

| 30 || – || 33.6 || .529 || – || .767 || 8.1 || 1.0 || 1.4 || .6 || 18.6

|- class="sortbottom"

| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career

| 59 || – || 33.7 || .506 || .500 || .749 || 8.3 || 1.0 || 1.3 || .4 || 17.2

Personal life

Cross' first child, a daughter, was born while he was attending Miami Dade. He married the child's mother, Gwenell, in 1986. His second child, a son, was born during his first season at Hawaii.