James Ennis III  James Alfred Ennis III (born July 1, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played two years of Division 1 college basketball for Long Beach State, where he became a standout as a senior, earning Big West Player of the Year honors. After being selected by the Atlanta Hawks in the second round of the 2013 NBA draft, Ennis moved to Australia and joined the Perth Wildcats. There he won an NBL championship and became a Perth favorite. He returned to the United States in 2014 in pursuit of an NBA contract, and subsequently joined the Miami Heat. He went on to spend time with the Memphis Grizzlies and the New Orleans Pelicans during the 2015–16 season, as well as in the NBA Development League with the Iowa Energy. He re-joined the Grizzlies in July 2016, and was traded to the Pistons in February 2018. He then split the 2018–19 season with the Houston Rockets and the Philadelphia 76ers. Born in Ventura, California, Ennis grew up in the Westview Village housing project where he and his five siblings played basketball, soccer, rode bikes and skateboarded. As a youngster, he and his family moved around a lot—Ennis attended three different high schools in his freshman year alone. They later settled back down at Westview Village where he went on to graduate from Ventura High School in 2009. As a freshman at Oxnard College in 2009–10, Ennis was named first-team All-WSC after averaging 19.0 points, the third most in the state by a freshman, and 7.7 rebounds per game. For his sophomore season, he returned home to play for Ventura College, and in 2010–11, he was named first-team All-California Community College Athletic Association and first-team All-Western State Conference after averaging 20.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game. He scored 1,053 points in two seasons of junior college basketball, while scoring in double figures in 48 of his 52 games. For his junior season, Ennis joined the Long Beach State 49ers, and immediately garnered the starting small forward role. In 2011–12, Ennis earned honorable mention All-Big West Conference honors after averaging 10.0 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game. With the departure of conference player of the year Casper Ware, Ennis became the go-to player for the 49ers in 2012–13.