NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - Former Belmont University men's basketball All-American J.J. Mann ('14) has agreed to a professional playing contract with Phoenix Hagen in Germany, according to multiple reports.
Mann spent the last two seasons playing in Germany for Bayer Giants Leverkusen.
The Smyrna, Georgia native averaged 12.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.7 steals per game on 47 percent shooting and 40 percent 3-point shooting last season.
This is Mann's second stint with Phoenix Hagen, having played for the club in 2015-16.
Mann enters his ninth season of professional basketball, having spent time with Okapi Aalstar (Belgium), Imortal BC Albufeira (Portugal), Team Fog Naestved (Denmark), Sigal Prishtina (Kosovo), Belfius Mons-Hainaut (Belgium) and Oberwart (Austria).
The 6-6 guard also played for Team Showtime in
The Basketball Tournament (TBT) in 2018.
Upon graduation, Mann set a number of Belmont NCAA era program records, including games played (139), victories (109), steals (208), single-season scoring (660 points, 2014), home court win streak (23 games), and overall home court winning percentage (50-2, .962).
Mann ranked among the OVC leaders in nine statistical categories in 2014, including scoring (18.3), 3-point field goal percentage (.390) and minutes played (35.2) en route to earning Associated Press All-America Honorable Mention, Mid-Major All-America, Tennessee Sports Writers Association Player of the Year, NABC All-District and OVC Player of the Year honors.
He was part of four conference regular season championships, three conference tournament championships, three NCAA Tournament appearances and one Postseason NIT appearance. Mann, who sank the game-winning shot in Belmont's victory at six-time National Champion North Carolina, currently ranks eighth on the program's NCAA era scoring list with 1,509 points.
Belmont also earned national Top 25 poll votes in each of Mann's four seasons.
Belmont University men's basketball has earned postseason invitations 15 of the last 17 seasons, including nine berths to the NCAA Tournament. The Bruins have won 20 conference championships since 2006 - third-most nationally over that span (Gonzaga, Kansas). Belmont has won 20 or more games in 12 consecutive seasons (Gonzaga, Kansas, Oregon). Belmont is one of only six NCAA Division I programs outside the Power 5 to post Top 100 rankings 12 consecutive seasons (BYU, Gonzaga, Saint Mary's (CA), San Diego State, Wichita State). Belmont University men's basketball boasts an NCAA-leading 19 CoSIDA Academic All-America selections since 2001 and is the only NCAA Division I program to make the NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) Honor Roll every year of existence
