T.J. Leaf

Ty Jacob Leaf was born in 1997 in Tel Aviv, a city on Israel's Mediterranean coast. He is the son of Brad and Karen Leaf. His father, Brad, played collegiate basketball at the University of Evansville and was selected by the Pacers in the 1982 NBA Draft before playing 17 professional seasons in Israel. T.J. has two older brothers and two younger sisters. His brother Troy played college basketball and was a Division II All-American. T.J. played his high school basketball at Foothills Christian High School in El Cajon, California, where his father was the head coach. He averaged 28.4 points, 12.4 boards, 5.3 assists and 3.2 steals per game during his senior season and was named a 2016 McDonald's All-American. Follow Leaf on Twitter (@leafsquad22). T.J Leaf spent one year (2016-17) at the University of California Los Angeles, joining forces with fellow highly-touted recruit Lonzo Ball to form a dynamic pass and shoot duo. Leaf made 35 appearances for the Bruins, starting each, and produced 16.3 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. Leaf compiled 11 double-doubles and shot a team-leading 61.7 percent from the field. Those offensive numbers made Leaf one of three UCLA players to secure First team All-Pac 12 Honors, alongside Lonzo Ball and Bryce Alford. In a Feb. 1 matchup against Washington State, Leaf scored 32 points and added 14 rebounds. Those 32 points were the second highest total ever scored in a game by a UCLA freshman. With Leaf and Ball in tow, the Bruins went 31-5 on the season, making it all the way to the Elite Eight of the National Tournament, where they fell to Kentucky.