Joe Girard III agrees to NBA Summer League deal with Toronto Raptors
Clemson sharpshooter Joe Girard III buried countless clutch shots during his impressive college basketball career with the Tigers and the Syracuse Orange. But unfortunately, he didn’t hear his name called in the 2024 NBA Draft on Wednesday and Thursday evening.
But one of the most gifted three-point shooters in the ACC didn’t take long to get an opportunity. On Friday evening, Clemson basketball announced on their Twitter page that Girard will sign an NBA Summer League deal with the Toronto Raptors.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Girard was lethal from three-point range for most of his college career, especially the final three years, where he averaged 40.3%, 38.1%, and 41.3% from deep. He made his mark as one of the all-time greats in Clemson basketball history this season, drilling 105 threes in the 2024 campaign.
He has the all-time record in Tiger basketball history for the most three-pointers drained in a single year. He passed other Clemson greats such as Terrell McIntyre (99) and Will Solomon (95). Girard averaged double digits for four of his five seasons of college basketball, and the one he didn’t he still stuffed the stat sheet with 9.8 points.
This season for Clemson, he averaged 15.1 points per game, while connecting on 105 of his 254 threes (41.3%). He also connected on 115 of his 123 free throws, drilling 93.5% from the foul line. He was certainly one of the most critical pieces of Clemson’s magical run to the Elite Eight in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The Tigers fell 89-82 to the Alabama Crimson Tide, to end their special run in March.
As a freshman with the Syracuse Orange (2019-2020), Girard hit 89.4% of his free throws, ranking third best in program history behind Gerry McNamara’s freshman and senior seasons. He also drilled 70 three-pointers, the fourth most ever for a Syracuse freshman. His most productive season with the Orange came in 2022-2023, when he exploded for 16.4 points per game and averaged 34.7 minutes per game.
Joe Girard III was an exceptional high school athlete
In high school, Girard was an exceptional athlete, leading Glen Falls to a second state championship in football his senior year. He wrapped up his prolific high school career with 6,737 passing yards and 83 touchdowns, while rushing for more than 1,500 yards and 31 touchdowns.
As a basketball player, Girard was equally as impressive, earning New York Gatorade Player of the Year honors twice and earning Mr. New York Basketball honors. As a senior, he averaged 48.6 points per game, wrapping up his prolific career with 4,763 points. Rated as a three-star prospect according to the On3 Industry Rankings, Girard chose Syracuse over offers from Boston College, Duke, Michigan, Notre Dame, and Penn State.