BIO: Jett grew up in Saint Paul, Minnesota and was raised by his single mother in a home with a sister, brother and two cousins Jett considers brothers.

His mother, a track star, used to take him to the park where he’d watch his brother and cousins play basketball and football. By the age of nine, Jett was playing organized basketball.

For his first two years of high school, Jett attended Saint Agnes High School in Saint Paul, Minnesota where he played basketball and football.

In 2007, he transferred to Saint Bernard’s High School, where as a senior in 2008/09, he averaged 20 points, five assists and five steals per game.

He then moved to Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Massachusetts for a prep season in 2009/10.

There, he played for coach Ryan Hurd, and averaged a team-high 14 points to go with seven rebounds, and five assists.

He helped the Crusaders to a 27–7 record, and the No.4 seed at the 2010 National Prep Championship tournament.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Jordair Jett made his NBL debut with the Townsville Crocodiles at 24 years of age. He scored eight points in his first game.

Front office changes and financial limitations saw the Crocodiles struggling to gain clarity on their future in the competition, resulting in player recruitment becoming extremely challenging for Townsville. The first impact of this saw Todd Blanchfield, who earned the NBL Most Improved Player the season prior, relocate to Melbourne and sign with the re-branded Melbourne United. Coach Shawn Dennis would sign Nicholas Kay, who was returning home after four years at Metro State College of Denver and then rounded out the rest of the roster by signing players happy to play for near league minimum contracts, mostly young talent unable to latch on with other team’s or veteran players other team’s had given up on. Luke Schenscher (via Adelaide), Corey Maynard and Mitchell Young (both via Cairns) were clear examples of that.

NBL MVP Brian Conklin was re-signed and appointed team captain and paired with incoming import Jordair Jett.

The season began with two consecutive losses to Melbourne United (84-99) at home and New Zealand (81-89) in New Zealand. But then, in surprising fashion, Townsville, who had won a total of three away games the previous season, defeated Sydney (80-77) and Perth (66-63) on their home floor in back-to-back rounds.

Townsville’s season quickly turned sour after that, highlighted by their 31-point defeat at the hands of Melbourne in late October and having the worst record in the league (2-9) after the first few months of the season. Then, when the team faced the Perth Wildcats at home, Conklin was involved in a ugly on-court incident involving Perth Wildcats guard Damian Martin Martin. During the fourth quarter of the Crocodiles win over the Wildcat’s (89–77), Conklin’s errant elbow collided with and broke Martin’s jaw. Despite a call from Australian basketball legend Andrew Gaze for Conklin to be suspended for at least six weeks, the NBL cleared Conklin of any wrongdoing. A similar situation arose during a brutal loss to Adelaide (65-89) less than two weeks after the Martin encounter, where Conklin (21 points and 12 rebounds) was in the spotlight again for another elbow incident, this time for striking 36ers forward Mitch Creek in a similar manner. He subsequently received a three-match suspension, with two of those games suspended for the rest of the season.

By the end of November, sitting at the bottom of the ladder (4–10), Townsville terminated Conklin’s contract due to what the club claimed was a number of ‘sub-par performances’. Conklin (13.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game) later took to social media to share his version of the truth, which pointed the finger at Townsville wanting to reduce costs as the reason for his release. The Crocs would bring in a former college teammate of Patty Mills, Omar Samhan (13 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.1 blocks), as Conklin’s replacement a week later.

Schenscher (4.1 points and 3.1 rebounds) also struggled with injuries and with nine games remaining, Townsville chose to add Harry Froling (1.6 points and 0.8 rebounds), a member of Townsville’s junior program, as an injury replacement player for him.

While Jett (15.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.1 steals) struggled in the team’s early games, he would explode during the second half of the season, leading the team in scoring with Mirko Djeric (5.3 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 0.9 assists) delivering his best season to date. With Townsville now firmly focused as a team, their work was rewarded in the second half of the season, winning half of their remaining games (7-7). This included a upset victory over Adelaide will go down in Townsville history as perhaps the most exciting finish to a game. The win showcased the fighting qualities instilled in the Crocs and even in the most unlikely circumstances, a team must play to the final buzzer.

Despite again finishing with a winning record at home (8-6) but only three road wins for the season, Townsville would finish second last on the ladder (11-17) with Jett being awarded the Kevin Sugars Medal (club MVP).

Despite the hardships Townsville was viewed as overachievers for the most part and coach Shawn Dennis was rewarded by the league with the NBL’s coach of the year trophy. The Croc’s cleaned up on awards night with Nicholas Kay (10.8 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists) also winning Rookie of the Year and Clint Steindl (12.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.1 assists) earning Most Improved Player.

Although Townsville had a verbal commitment from the league they would be able to continue playing with their support, the inability to raise enough money from the community saw their eventual demise. Kay and Mitchell Norton (8.9 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.8 assists) both signed deals with Illawarra and while Young found a spot with Brisbane. Unable to find deals in Australia, Steindl and Djeric both ventured overseas, Luke Schenscher retired and coach Shawn Dennis would end up coaching in the Japanese national league.

ILLAWARRA HAWKS
2018/19
After finishing fifth with a 12-16 record and narrowly missing the playoffs the previous season, Illawarra reshaped its roster under coach Rob Beveridge. Nick Kay (to Perth), Mitch Norton (to Perth), Rotnei Clarke (to Italy), Demitrius Conger (to France) and Delvon Johnson (to Slovakia) departed, while Cody Ellis and Rhys Martin became free agents and Oscar Forman retired. AJ Ogilvy, Tim Coenraad, Nic Pozoglou and captain Kevin White returned, with Todd Blanchfield (via Sydney), David Andersen (via Melbourne), Brian Conklin (via France), Cedric Jackson (via USA), Emmett Naar, Daniel Grida and Marshall Nelson added to the roster.

Jordair Jett (via Townsville Heat) returned to the NBL after previously playing with the Townsville Crocodiles during the 2015/16 season. Jett spent the 2018 winter playing for the Townsville Heat in the QBL, with his move to Illawarra agreed during June and confirmed by early July. He helped the Heat win the 2018 QBL championship before joining the Hawks for the NBL season.

Illawarra opened the season against defending champions Melbourne at WIN Entertainment Centre on October 12, where Jett (16 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists) started and played almost 47 minutes in a remarkable quadruple-overtime game. With the Hawks facing defeat late in the third overtime, Blanchfield found Jett underneath the basket and he converted a difficult reverse lay-up to force a fourth overtime before Melbourne eventually won 123-122. Blanchfield (26 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists) and Ogilvy (15 points, 21 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks) were Illawarra’s other standouts, while Josh Boone (24 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 blocks) led Melbourne.

Talk about putting on the JETS…@jjett5 sends this thing to quadruple OT#NBL19 #MELatILL pic.twitter.com/jDFiC2AOdD

— The NBL (@NBL) October 12, 2018

Jett (11.8 points and 1.5 steals across 28 games) played every game and did not miss any time through injury. After starting six of Illawarra’s first six games he was shifted primarily to the bench, finishing the season with eight starts and becoming one of the Hawks’ main scoring and defensive options in the second unit.

His season-high scoring performance came in Cairns on October 21, where Jett (22 points, 5 assists, and 4 steals) helped Illawarra collect its first win of the season with a 104-93 victory over the Taipans. Blanchfield (32 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 steals) and Conklin (21 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists) combined with Jett to lead the Hawks, while Melo Trimble (28 points and 5 assists) was Cairns’ leading scorer.

Jett’s best all-around game came against Adelaide on November 25, producing 18 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals off the bench as Illawarra snapped a three-game losing streak with a 120-109 win. Blanchfield (24 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals) and Ogilvy (19 points, 14 rebounds, and 3 assists) led the starters, while former Hawk Demitrius Conger (22 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists) was Adelaide’s best. The physical game included a heated exchange between Jett and Jacob Wiley that resulted in Wiley being ejected, with David Andersen and Tim Coenraad also ejected later in the game.

Two weeks later Jett produced one of the Hawks’ most dramatic wins of the season in Adelaide. Having been booed by the crowd following his earlier altercation with Harry Froling during Illawarra’s previous visit, Jett (16 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals) took possession on the final play and banked home the game-winner as time expired to give the Hawks an 87-86 victory. Andersen (11 points and 5 rebounds) and Ogilvy (10 points and 8 rebounds) provided support, while Nathan Sobey (24 points and 4 rebounds) led Adelaide. Beveridge said afterwards, “He’s probably the most underrated import in the league.”

Jett (19 points) delivered his second-highest scoring game of the season in Perth on February 1, providing a spark from the bench alongside Conklin (20 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists) and Jackson (11 points and 5 assists), but the Wildcats defeated Illawarra 104-90 behind Bryce Cotton (27 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists) and secured their 33rd consecutive playoff appearance.

With Illawarra still attempting to remain in the finals race, Jett (16 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 block) led the Hawks in Brisbane on February 7 before the Bullets pulled away in overtime for a 98-87 win. Grida (13 points and 2 steals) and Jackson (11 points and 5 rebounds) provided support, while Lamar Patterson (24 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists) led Brisbane, with the loss leaving Illawarra at 12-14 and effectively ending its playoff hopes.

Conklin (14.4 points and 5.1 rebounds) led Illawarra in scoring, while Blanchfield (13.5 points and 4.2 rebounds) was named Hawks MVP. Ogilvy (9.4 points and 6.6 rebounds), Coenraad (8.7 points and 4 rebounds), Andersen (8.3 points and 3.5 rebounds), Jackson (7.9 points, 3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists) and Grida (5.1 points across 28 games) were the other major contributors. Jett’s work after moving to the bench saw him finish third in NBL Best Sixth Man voting behind Reuben Te Rangi and Jarrad Weeks, while Grida finished third in Rookie of the Year voting.

Following the season, Jett (to Nelson Giants) signed with Nelson on April 4 for the 2019 New Zealand NBL season. He was not retained by Illawarra for 2019/20 and was one of the Hawks’ major departures alongside Conklin and Jackson as the club rebuilt its import group around Aaron Brooks and Josh Boone and added Next Star LaMelo Ball. The season proved to be Jett’s final year in the NBL.

Illawarra finished its season against New Zealand on February 14, where Jett (7 points) made his 28th appearance before the Breakers defeated the Hawks 130-96. Grida (17 points) and Ogilvy (12 points and 4 rebounds) led Illawarra, while Shawn Long (21 points and 8 rebounds) was New Zealand’s leading scorer as the Hawks finished seventh with a 12-16 record.
Jordair Jett played two seasons in the NBL, playing for both the Townsville Crocodiles and the Illawarra Hawks. He averaged 13.2 points, 3 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in 56 NBL games.