Credit Northwest Mississippi CC Sports Information/nwccrangers.com
Former Northwest and Nicholls State standout Jitaurious “Ty” Gordon has spent the last season playing professional basketball on the international stage.
Now, after stints in Lithuania and Estonia, the Tunica native and Horn Lake alumnus has found a new team to suit up for this coming season.
Basketball Nymburk has officially signed Gordon to its roster, the organization announced via social media on Tuesday. The club, known as ERA Nymburk for sponsorship purposes, competes in the Czech-based National Basketball League.
“Ty Gordon is a modern point guard, capable of scoring and creating opportunities for his teammates,” Nymburk coach Francesco Tabellini said. “His physicality at both ends of the court and the intensity of his passing impressed me the most when I first started watching him play. I believe we have acquired another highly motivated player with huge potential.”
Gordon’s new team is a storied one, as Nymburk won 19 straight Czech National League championships from 2004-22 and 15 Czech Cups over the same span. The club often competes in the EuroCup and other European basketball competitions. Some of the club’s former players include former University of Memphis star Darius Washington Jr. and former 1995 NBA Draft first-round selection George Zidek.
Gordon spent two seasons at Northwest, averaging 20.6 points per game, while shooting 47.5 percent from the floor. A two-time all-conference selection from 2017-19, he ranks eighth in the Rangers’ record books for three-point percentage (.349), ninth in three-pointers made/attempted (106-304) and is tied for 10th in scoring average (17.4 points per game).
Following Northwest, Gordon initially signed with Troy University and spent the 2019-20 season with the Trojans. He then transferred to Nicholls State to finish out his collegiate career, earning Southland Conference Player of the Year accolades in March 2022, becoming only the second Colonel to earn conference POTY accolades (Reggie Jackson; 1995).
Gordon averaged 21.6 points per game during his senior season at Nicholls State and was named conference Player of the Week seven times during the 2021-22 season, setting a new league record. He also scored 30 points or more in four games with the Colonels, including a career-best 36 points against New Orleans. Gordon also set a program single-season record with 99 made three-pointers, while ranking seventh in the nation with an average of 3.67 three-pointers per game and tying for sixth and seventh in the conference for assists per game (3.2) and steals per game (1.5).
Following his time in Thibodaux, Gordon worked out for numerous NBA teams, but was ultimately snubbed in the 2022 NBA Draft. He was later selected by the Memphis Hustle in the first round of the NBA G-League Draft last October, but did not make the final roster.
Most recently, Gordon was signed by BC Gargždai-SC of the Lithuanian Basketball League in December 2022, before later joining Tartu Ülikool of the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League.
Before joining Basketball Nymburk, Gordon will compete with the Beale Street Boys in The Basketball Tournament, which is slated to begin later this week. Made up of mostly University of Memphis alums, the Beale Street Boys are just one of 64 teams competing for the $1,000,000, winner-take-all prize.
The Beale Street Boys will open competition in the Wichita region against the Broad Street Birds, a team making up former Temple University alums. The game will be held on Thursday, July 20 at 3 P.M. Central on ESPN+. All games will be on ESPN+, with select contests airing on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU.
