Jaylen Rose
| File:Jaylen Rose.jpg | |
| No. 00 – Retired | |
|---|---|
| Position | Forward |
| Species | Dragon ( Varanidae ) |
| Gender | Male |
| Nickname(s) | |
| Jay | |
| Personal information | |
| Born | Cleveland, OH |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) |
| Listed weight | 251 lb (114 kg) |
| Shoots | Right |
| Career information | |
| School | Lake Erie Anthro Institute |
| FBA draft | 2017 / Round: 1 / Pick: 7th overall |
| Selected by the Dakota Bikers | |
| Pro playing career | 2017–present |
| Career history | |
| 2017-2019 | Dakota Bikers |
| 2019-2022 | Arizona Whips |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Contract information | |
| Contract year | 2017 |
| Player Contacts | |
| (IC) Agent | Unknown |
| (OOC) Creator | Drax |
| (OOC) Actor | Unknown |
| (OOC) Usage | Ask me before any use |
Biography
"Born in Cleveland, Jaylen Rose was raised on the streets and lived with most of his entire family as they were too poor to afford to live in the nicer areas of the city. Jaylen was an outgoing and smart kid in the Elementary years. When he reached Middle School, however, things changed. He became so shy that he wouldn't talk to anyone unless he was totally required to, but he was still outgoing with his family.
Jaylen picked up basketball in the eighth grade. He had been reluctant to do so for many years before, even though everyone ranging from gym teachers to even his closest friends asked why he did not play. It all changed when he started going to practice at the rundown neighborhood park with his cousin. Jay always had to practice with his cousin was because he didn't have his own ball. What practice he'd done was very meager compared to actual basketball players; he’d just practice until he got tired.
What really kicked him into gear was when he felt ashamed after missing the eighth grade tryouts due to arriving when the tryouts were nearly over. After that, he'd scrounged up as much cash as possible at that point and bought a brand new ball to use for practice, now able to practice every day. He also became more interested in the FBA due to watching it on TV. Most of the time he watched it to see how the professionals played and to teach himself off of that, but sometimes he watched it just to see who would win. Usually he watched his favorite team, which was Newark Pride.
By the time he was a Freshman in High School, he was somewhat adept at the game. Still rivaling with his cousin, he found that he was still unable to beat him because of how hard his cousin played. One time he asked his cousin why he didn't try out to be on a team, he was met with the answer of, “I’d probably get fouled out every game because of how hard I play.” Jay continued to practice every day at the park until the tryouts for Freshmen arrived; he was in the mindset that he would perform much better this time.
He went there on the first day this time. However, it didn't fare very well for him; he got very nervous because he wanted to prove that he was the best one there. He dropped the ball almost every time it was passed to him, and missed every shot. He even missed most layups. Ashamed, he called his mother to come pick him up and just felt bad for the rest of the week. More time went by, he played the game on his own and got better with every practice, and he even started working out before and after each practice.
He also grew at an astonishing rate. He was at least 6’ 6” before the start of his Sophomore year. He went and performed as well as he could at the Sophomore tryouts. He tried as hard as possible to perform every drill correctly and make every shot that he could. It ended with him performing much better than he did before, and it was this time that he succeeded in grabbing the coaches attention. They chose him to be one of the players and put him at center because he was so much taller than everyone else. He didn't train to specifically be one role, but he knew that he spent more time shooting than getting into the paint.
A few days later, after their first practice, he went to his coaches and asked if he could be switched to a small forward or power forward. They checked their lists and arranged for him to be in the SF position because they had a shortage of them. From there, it all just played out. Jay went through his first season, their team decimating almost all other competition to be nearly undefeated. By the end of his Sophomore year, he was about 6’ 8”. He wondered when he would stop growing, for fear of being put in another position which would require him to be in the paint almost constantly. He was also able to dunk without using his wings now, which was good because he had to have them strapped to his back due to the five-limb rule that he’d learned about when joining the high school team.
He went through his Junior and Senior years, working out with his team every day of the school year and summer. By the end of his Senior year, he was named MVP of the High School basketball team. By this time he was done growing, ending at 6’ 11”. He stayed a forward for the entire three years that he played, and he learned some tricks so that he would be able to play center as well.
Jay was approached later the same day as when he was named MVP by a scout for Lake Erie Anthro Institute, and was told that they have seen how well that he can play and were considering recruiting him and granting him a scholarship. Knowing that the college was Division I for basketball, and that his parents couldn't pay for him to go to college, he immediately said yes. Graduating at 18 years old, he was the only one of his family to go to college.
Arriving at LEAI a few months later, Jay was greeted by the coach of their basketball team when tryouts came around. Again, he performed to the best of his ability, exceeding all others in mid range shooting, passing, and the post. Despite his self-doubt, he easily made it onto the team. Performing better than anyone else, he was first pick to be on the team. Again, he had to manually switch his main role to small forward instead of center.
He played through one season of his college basketball while maintaining his grades at the same time. By the end of their first season, he’d already grabbed the attention of the FBA. He was met by a scout who, to put it short, suggested that he should declare to be in the draft. And he did. Jaylen Rose declared for the draft at the age of 19.