TJ Shorts II - Pronunciation
2018-19: ALL-BIG WEST CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM... BIG WEST CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK (2/10)... ALL-BIG WEST CONFERENCE PRESEASON TEAM... Team captain... Ended the season with five individual NCAA rankings: No. 106 in field goal percentage (.497), No. 111 in assists per game (4.3), No. 124 in steals per game (1.59), No. 155 in total assists (126) and No. 202 in total steals (46)... Among all Big West players, he ranked No. 2 in steals (1.6 per game), No. 7 in scoring (15.2 ppg), field goal percentage (.497), No. 8 in assist/turnover ratio (1.4), No. 10 in defensive rebounds (4.1 per game), and No. 14 in rebounding (4.7)... Ended the year with 126 total assists, the third-highest single-season total in the program's Division I era... HIs 4.3 assists per game average is the fourth-highest average; ranked No. 10 with 163 field goals made... Ranked No. 4 and No. 5 with 46 total steals and his 1.6 steals per game average... Scored a team-high 28 points, four rebounds and a game-high eight assists in his final college game at the Big West Tournament (3/14)... In his final home game as an Aggie, Shorts II scored 18 points and finished with a game-high six assists vs. UC Riverside (3/9)... One game after hitting a career-high 14 shots at the stripe, he scored 11 of his season-high 26 points on free throws vs. Hawai’i (3/7)... Hit a Division I-era program record 14 free throws, finished with a team-high eight rebounds and five assists vs. Cal State Fullerton (3/2)... For the second season in a row, TJ Shorts II earned Big West Player of the Week honors after leading his team to a sweep of its Central California games... His 21 points scored at UC Santa Barbara (2/9) is the fifth 20-point game of the season; hit four free throws in a row, in the final minute of the game, to seal the victory for the Aggies... Enjoyed another outstanding game at Cal Poly (2/7): Last year, he posted a triple-double vs. the Mustangs, this season he finished with a game-high 18 points, five rebounds and seven of the team’s 12 assists... Led all players with 23 points, including 11 earned at the free throw line, at UC Riverside (2/2)... Earned Big West Conference Player of the Week (week of Feb. 4) for his effort against the Highlanders... Shorts II is the only Aggie since Corey Hawkins finished 11-for-11 at UC Irvine, in 2015, to post a perfect percentage with 10 or more free throws made... Earned eight of the team’s 14 assists, and recorded four steals for the third time this season at Hawai’i (1/26)... Recorded as many assists (11) as the entire Cal Poly team when the Aggies hosted the Mustangs on Jan. 19; this is the second time Shorts II finished with a double-digit assist total, the first took place in his triple-double effort at Cal Poly (2/15/18) when he finished with 10... Those 11 assists are a Big West program-era record... Scored 19 points on 8 of 12 shooting, and hit all three shots at the stripe at Long Beach State (1/12)... Recorded the second double-double of his career, and the Aggies’ first of the season, by finishing with 21 points and a career-high 10 rebounds at UC Irvine (1/10)... Connected on all six of his field goal attempts, and finished with 12 points, five rebounds and three assists vs. Holy Names (1/5)... Finished with 14 points, four rebounds, four assists and a game-high three steals at USC (12/30)... In a game nationally televised on the Pac-12 Networks, TJ Shorts II led all players with a season-high 25 points, hit 10 of 15 shots from the floor, a season-high 5 of nine at the stripe, and blocked a career high two shots at Arizona (12/22)... Shot 8-for-11 and scored a game-high 17 points vs. William Jessup (12/16)... Led all players with 18 points and six baskets, and finished with a team-high five rebounds at Northern Illinois (12/5)... Set a new career high by finishing with four threes vs. Northern Arizona (11/29)... Also led all players with 21 points, on 8 of 13 shooting, a team-high six rebounds and a game-high seven assists (second time in as many games) vs. NAU... Hit 6 of 11 shots from the field, connected on all four of his free throws, collected a season-high seven of the Aggies’ 11 assists and tied a career high by blocking one shot at Indiana (11/23)... Responsible for four of the team’s 11 steals vs. Sacramento State (11/20); also finished with 11 points and a team-high six rebounds... Led all Aggies with 14 points, eight rebounds, and four assists at Arkansas (11/12)
2017-18: BIG WEST PLAYER OF THE YEAR... BIG WEST NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR... First player in league history to win its top two individual awards in the same season... ALL-BIG WEST FIRST TEAM... COLLEGE SPORTS MADNESS ALL-MID MAJOR THIRD TEAM... BIG WEST CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK (3/5,2/19)... COLLEGE SPORTS MADNESS BIG WEST PLAYER OF THE WEEK (2/18)... Ended his junior season with the following NCAA national rankings: Free Throw Attempts - No. 39 (212), Total Steals - No. 42 (63), Steals per Game - No. 46 (1.91), Free Throws Made - No. 55 (158), Total Assists - No. 124 (143), Assists per Game - No. 131 (4.3), Assist/Turnover Ratio - No. 192 (1.77)... Ended his junior season with the following Big West Conference rankings:Steals per Game - No. 1 (1.9), Assists per Game - No. 2 (4.4), Assist/Turnover Ratio - No. 3 (1.8), Points per Game - No. 7 (14.8), Field Goal Percentage - No. 7 (.521)... Joined the following Division I era single-season lists with his 2017-18 totals: Steals - No. 1 (63), Steals Average - No. 2 (1.9), Assists - No. 2 (146), Assists Average - No. 2 (4.4), Free Throw Attempts - No. 2 (212), Free Throws Made - No. 3 (158), Points - No. 8 (490)... One of two Aggies who started, and played, in all 33 games...
One of four players who scored in double figures — he finished with 10 points — posted a team-high six free throws made, and game high five assists in UC Davis’ NIT First Round game at Utah (3/14)... Scored nine of his team-high 15 points in the second half, finished with a team-high five rebounds and game-high seven assists vs. UC Riverside, a team that posted 11 assists as a team... The first Big West player in conference history named Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year... Also earned All-Big West First Team accolades... Made it impossible for coaches to select someone else for those awards after finishing with a team-high 21 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals in front of a hometown crowd to help UC Davis win a regular season conference title at UC Irvine (3/3)... His steal, and subsequent free throws in the final minute of overtime, helped the Aggies tie the score at 79 and force double OT... Notched his fourth 20-point game in the last six played by hitting 6 of 10 from the floor, and all eight at the line vs. Hawai’i (3/8)... Led all Aggies with four assists, two steals and 16 points, but it was his final basket, a layup scored with 0.9 seconds remaining in regulation, that ended up being the game-winner vs. UC Riverside (2/24)... That shot was Shorts II’s second game winner of the month, and followed a three from UC Riverside’s Menno Dijkstra which gave the Highlanders their only lead of the second half... All three of his shooting percentages increased from the start vs. the end of February: from .532 FG/.375 3FG/.720 FT to .550 FG/.381 3FG/.740 FT... In the seven games played throughout February, Shorts II averaged 19.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg, shot .588 overall, .400 from three and .788 at the free throw line... Over the seven games played that month, his 41 assists were more than half of his total (80) collected throughout the team’s first 21 games... Earned Big West Conference and College Sports Madness Player of the Week awards when each announced their selections for the week ending on Feb. 18... Ten of his 20 points scored at UC Santa Barbara (2/17) took place during the team’s game-changing 23-6 run late in the second half... Connected on 9 of 10 shots from the floor, and his only attempt from three vs. the Gauchos to help the Aggies snap UCSB’s 11-game home and eight-game overall win streaks... Earned his first triple-double by finishing with 10 points and a career-high 10 rebounds at Cal Poly (2/15); also recorded a career-high 10 assists out of the 20 earned by the Aggies that night during his 50 minutes on the court... That was the Aggies’ second triple-double posted in the program’s Big West era, Mark Payne recorded the first on March 1, 2008, vs. Sacramento State (19/10/10)... Posted three straight 20-point games for the first time this season when he finished with a team-high 21 vs. Cal State Fullerton (2/10)... By scoring 28 points, Shorts II two highest single-game points totals took place in the Aggies’ last two games: at Long Beach State (31 points, 2/3) and vs. UC Santa Barbara (28 points, 2/8)... Responsible for a combined 59 of the team’s 186 points (32 pct.) scored in the last two games... Matched a career high by finishing with seven rebounds, and set a new one with eight assists against the Gauchos... Hit the game-winning shot, a running three, with two seconds left in double overtime to lift the Aggies to a 105-104 victory at Long Beach State... Recorded a career-high 31 points, on 12 field goals and six free throws, and posted the first 30-point game of the season for the Aggies in that game... All five of his made free throws took place in the second half, including key shots hit in the final minutes to help the Aggies preserve their lead at CSUN (2/1); also recorded four rebounds, four assists and three steals that night... Led all Aggies with 16 points vs. CSUN (1/25)... Notched his fourth 20-point game of the season, and scored 16 of his team-high 21 points in the second half, hit all seven free throw attempts, collected five rebounds and finished with a team-high five or more assists for the seventh time this season when the Aggies visited Hawai’i (1/20)... Posted his fourth double-figure point total in a row (in as many league games), by finishing with 15, in addition to matching a career high by collecting seven assists vs. Long Beach State (1/17)... Competing for the first time as an Aggie in front of a local crowd — numerous family members, friends and supporters made the drive from Tustin to Fullerton — he finished with 13 points and a game-high four assists against the Titans (1/13)... His three, scored with 1:22 remaining, sealed the victory for UC Davis at UC Riverside (1/11); also recorded five or more assists for the fifth time this year... Led all players with 22 points, on 8 of 9 shooting, hit both shots from three and 4 of 7 at the line vs. UC Irvine (1/4)... Posted 16 points on eight free throws and four field goals, in addition to tying a career high with five steals, and finishing with four assists vs. Radford (12/23)... Scored a career-high 25 points, and canned all 13 attempts from the line, vs. Lamar (12)... Shorts II’s 13 made free throws is the second-highest individual total since the Aggies joined the Big West in 2007... Of the 70 Aggies who posted a perfect shooting percentage at the stripe (min. six made, through 12/22/17), his FTM total is the second-highest recorded in a single game... A season-high eight of his 14 points were scored at the free throw line vs. Pacific (12/6); he also finished with four assists and two steals, both team highs... Finished with career highs of 20 points, eight field goals, five rebounds and five steals; also notched five assists at Washington State (12/2)... Notched a season-high seven assists and eight points throughout his 29 minutes on the floor during the Aggies’ Golden 1 Center game vs. Sacramento State (11/21)... Scored 15 or more points for the second time in three games by finishing with 17, in addition to his game-high five assists at Utah Valley (11/18)... Four of his eight points were recorded at the line, at Pacific (11/15)... Scored 13 points, recorded four assists, three steals, and one rebound in his UC Davis debut at Northern Colorado (11/13)... One of UC Davis’ eight newcomers.
SADDLEBACK COLLEGE (2015-17): Averaged a team-high 12.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.5 steals per game for a team that advanced to the CCCAA State Championship... Led by his season-high 21 points in that championship victory, he started all 33 games and scored double figures in 25 of them... Shot .492 overall, .800 at the line, and .543 from three, earning him Orange Empire Conference's Most Valuable Player and All-State First Team accolades.
TUSTIN HS '15: Led the Tillers to three consecutive Empire League championships and semifinal runs at sectionals in two of his last three seasons... Averaged 17 points and 3.5 rebounds per game his senior year, picking up Most Valuable Player, All-CIF Southern Section second team and All-League first team nods... Named Tustin High Varsity Offensive Player of the Year in his final two seasons... Received the school's Scholar-Athlete Award all four years... Regularly named to the Principal's and Superintendent's Honor Rolls.
PERSONAL: Born in Irvine, Calif.... Parents are Darlene and Timothy Shorts... Has one sister, Kawona... Enjoys surfing, something most people don't know about him... Favorite movie is Pursuit of Happyness... Sports hero is Chris Paul... Skydiving and traveling outside of the country are priorities on his bucket list... Chose UC Davis because it felt like the best fit, and for the outstanding opportunity it provided.
