« Men’s Basketball 2015-16

Justin Sears

School
Yale University
Position
Forward
Major
Political Science

Classroom

Justin Sears has maintained a 3.19 grade-point average as a political science major at Yale. Last spring he posted a 3.41 GPA and is on pace to graduate with his degree in May of 2016. He has plans to attend business school at some point following graduation.

Character

Sears didn’t start playing basketball until the eighth grade, but through countless hours in the gym he has made himself into one of the top players in the Ivy League. Sears also is active on campus, whether it is supporting one of the 34 other varsity teams at Yale or attending a lecture by former President Jimmy Carter. In addition, Sears has served as a mentor to a local 15-year-old boy, whom the team adopted through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation.

Community

Sears has been a generous contributor to the New Haven community during his time at Yale. In his freshman and sophomore years, he read to students at a local elementary school. In addition, he volunteers at a nearby soup kitchen and has assisted at a number of Yale Youth Day events where New Haven youth fill the Yale fields to participate in a morning of sports and clinics. In his home state of New Jersey, Sears and his brother Jordan, who plays basketball at Wesleyan, have helped run numerous basketball clinics for youngsters.

Competition

Sears was named A 2015 honorable mention AP All-American, he entered his senior season 10th all-time at Yale with 1,260 career points, third with 153 blocked shots and sixth with 366 free throws made. He is a three-time first-team All-Ivy selection, one of eight multiple first-team All-Ivy honorees in school history, and has just become Yale’s first three-time first-team selection since Chris Dudley (1985-87). He has also recently been named the Ivy League Player of the Year for the second straight year. Sears is third all-time in scoring at Yale with 1,670 career points, fourth with 803 career rebounds and second with 198 blocked shots. Sears is the first player in school history to score 1,600 career points and grab 800 rebounds. This season he has been among the national leaders in offensive rebounds throughout the year and is in the top-10 in the Ivy League in a number of categories, including scoring (t-5th, 15.8 ppg.), rebounding (5th, 7.5 rpg.), field goal percentage (6th, .519), assists (9th, 2.8 per game), blocked shots (1.8 per game) and offensive rebounds (1st, 3.7 per game). As a junior last year, Sears was named the Ivy League Player of the Year, the first Yale player to win the award since Paul Maley in 1988. Sears finished fourth in the Ivy League in scoring (14.3 ppg.), third in rebounding (7.5 rpg.), second in blocked shots (73) and fifth in field goal percentage (.512). Sears was a first-team All-Ivy selection as a sophomore as well after finishing third in the league in scoring (16.9 ppg.) and fourth in rebounding (6.8 rpg.). In all, he had played 92 games for the Bulldogs in three seasons.