Tanner Groves
{{short description|American basketball player (born 1999)}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| name = Tanner Groves
| image =
| caption =
| number = 22
| position = Power forward / center
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 10
| weight_lbs = 240
| league = B.League
| team = Nagasaki Velca
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1999|5|22}}
| birth_place = Spokane, Washington, U.S.
| high_school = Shadle Park
(Spokane, Washington)
| college =
- Eastern Washington (2018–2021)
- Oklahoma (2021–2023)
| draft_year = 2023
| career_start = 2023
| career_end =
| years1 = 2023–2024
| team1 = Anwil Włocławek
| years2 = 2024
| team2 = Xinjiang Flying Tigers
| years3 = 2024
| team3 = SC Rasta Vechta
| years4 = 2024–2025
| team4 = Cairns Taipans
| years5 = 2025–present
| team5 = Nagasaki Velca
| highlights =
- Big Sky Player of the Year (2021)
- First-team All-Big Sky (2021)
- Big Sky tournament MVP (2021)
}}
Tanner John Groves (born May 22, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Nagasaki Velca of the Japanese B.League. He played college basketball for the Eastern Washington Eagles and Oklahoma Sooners.
Early life
Groves was born in Spokane, Washington.{{cite web|url=https://goeags.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/tanner-groves/7222|title=Tanner Groves|work=goeags.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324003643/https://goeags.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/tanner-groves/7222|archive-date=March 24, 2022}} He attended Shadle Park High School, where he was named All-State and All-Greater Spokane League as a senior after averaging 18.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game.{{cite web|url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/jan/24/all-in-the-family-groves-name-synonymous-with-shad/|title=All in the family: Groves name synonymous with Shadle Park athletics|work=The Spokesman-Review|date=January 24, 2018}}
College career
Groves redshirted his true freshman season.{{cite web|url=https://www.krem.com/article/sports/eastern-washington/ewus-groves-brothers-thrive-as-each-others-biggest-fans-on-the-court/293-0263683b-2dbe-4e60-a13e-92f14e31a157|title=EWU's Groves brothers thriving as each other's biggest fans on the court|date=December 8, 2020 }} He played mostly off the bench as a redshirt freshman and sophomore before becoming a starter as a redshirt junior. He was named the Big Sky Conference Player of the Year for the 2020–21 season after averaging 17.9 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.{{cite web|url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/mar/08/tanner-groves-the-latest-eastern-washington-star-t/|title=Tanner Groves the latest Eastern Washington player to be named Big Sky MVP|work=The Spokesman-Review|date=March 8, 2021}} On April 18, 2021, he transferred to Oklahoma.{{cite web |last1=Borzello |first1=Jeff |title=Eastern Washington transfer Tanner Groves commits to Oklahoma to play basketball, sources say |url=https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/31285933/eastern-washington-transfer-tanner-groves-commits-oklahoma-sources-say |website=ESPN |access-date=April 20, 2021 |date=April 18, 2021}} In 2021–22, he started in all 34 games for the Sooners, averaging 11.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists per game and shooting over 38 percent from three. In 2022–23, he averaged 10.2 points, 7.2 boards and 1.1 blocks per game, recording the team-high six double-doubles.{{cite web|url=https://www.taipans.com/news/taipans-welcome-tanner-groves|title=Taipans welcome Tanner Groves|website=Taipans.com|date=May 7, 2024|access-date=May 7, 2024}}
Professional career
After going undrafted in the 2023 NBA draft, Groves joined the Oklahoma City Thunder for the 2023 NBA Summer League.{{cite web|url=https://www.si.com/college/oklahoma/mens-basketball/two-former-oklahoma-players-land-nba-free-agent-deals|title=Two Former Oklahoma Players Land NBA Free Agent Deals|website=SI.com|date=June 23, 2023|access-date=June 23, 2023}} He started the 2023–24 season in Poland with Anwil Włocławek, leaving in early January 2024 to join the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in China.{{cite web |title=新疆男篮正式更换大外援 坦纳·格罗夫斯完成签约完备联赛注册 将代表飞虎出战 |url=https://finance.sina.com.cn/jjxw/2024-01-15/doc-inacqqqe5839683.shtml |website=新浪财经 |access-date=March 10, 2025 |date=January 15, 2024}} In February 2024, he joined German team SC Rasta Vechta.{{cite web|url=https://www.rasta-vechta.de/home/einzelansicht/neue-power-auf-forward-tanner-groves-kommt/|title=NEUE POWER AUF FORWARD: TANNER GROVES KOMMT!|website=rasta-vechta.de|date=February 21, 2024|access-date=May 7, 2024|language=German}}
On May 7, 2024, Groves signed with the Cairns Taipans in Australia for the 2024–25 NBL season. On February 28, 2025, he signed with the Nagasaki Velca of the Japanese B.League for the rest of the 2024–25 season.{{cite web |title=タナ―・グローヴス選手 契約(新規)合意のお知らせ |url=https://www.velca.jp/news/detail/id=47489 |website=長崎ヴェルカ |access-date=March 10, 2025 |date=February 28, 2025}}
Career statistics
{{NBA player statistics legend}}
=College=
{{NBA player statistics start}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2017–18
| style="text-align:left;"| Eastern Washington
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="11"| File:Redshirt.svg Redshirt
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2018–19
| style="text-align:left;"| Eastern Washington
| 28 || 2 || 8.6 || .417 || .385 || .650 || 2.1 || .3 || .1 || .6 || 2.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2019–20
| style="text-align:left;"| Eastern Washington
| 30 || 1 || 9.9 || .589 || .424 || .636 || 2.8 || .3 || .1 || .6 || 5.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2020–21
| style="text-align:left;"| Eastern Washington
| 24 || 24 || 27.0 || .560 || .349 || .778 || 8.0 || 1.3 || .3 || 1.1 || 17.2
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2021–22
| style="text-align:left;"| Oklahoma
| 34 || 34 || 25.0 || .532 || .381 || .729 || 5.8 || 1.6 || .4 || .4 || 11.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2022–23
| style="text-align:left;"| Oklahoma
| 32 || 32 || 25.4 || .508 || .286 || .724 || 7.2 || 1.4 || .8 || 1.1 || 10.2
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 148 || 93 || 19.3 || .532 || .353 || .733 || 5.1 || 1.0 || .3 || .7 || 9.2
{{S-end}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://soonersports.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/tanner-groves/15463 Oklahoma Sooners bio]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20220324003643/https://goeags.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/tanner-groves/7222 Eastern Washington Eagles bio]
{{Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Groves, Tanner}}
Category:21st-century American sportsmen
Category:American expatriate basketball people in Australia
Category:American expatriate basketball people in China
Category:American expatriate basketball people in Germany
Category:American expatriate basketball people in Japan
Category:American expatriate basketball people in Poland
Category:American men's basketball players
Category:Basketball players from Spokane, Washington
Category:Cairns Taipans players
Category:Eastern Washington Eagles men's basketball players
Category:Nagasaki Velca players
Category:Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball players