{{short description|American basketball player}} {{Infobox basketball biography | name = Jim Usevitch | image = | league = | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 9 | weight_lb = 235 | position = Power forward / center | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1964|4|21}} | birth_place = Huntington Beach, California, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | highschool = Ocean View<br>(Huntington Beach, California) | college = BYU (1982–1984, 1986–1988) | draft_year = 1988 | career_start = 1988 | career_end = 1995 | years1 = 1988–1989 | team1 = Hapoel Haifa | years2 = 1989–1990 | team2 = AEK Athens | years3 = 1991–1992 | team3 = Tri-City Chinook | years4 = 1992 | team4 = B. Sardegna Sassari | years5 = 1993–1994 | team5 = Hapoel Givatayim | years6 = 1994–1995 | team6 = Brussels | highlights = }} '''James Scott Usevitch'''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.californiabirthindex.org/birth/james_s_usevitch_born_1964_9014156|title=James S Usevitch was born on April 21, 1964 in Orange County, California|website=californiabirthindex.org|publisher=California Birth Index|access-date=May 8, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=James Scott Usevitch () - Basketball Stats, Height, Age |url=https://www.fiba.basketball/en/players/105743-james-scott-usevitch |website=FIBA Basketball |access-date=4 August 2025}}</ref> (born April 21, 1964, in Huntington Beach, California) is an American former professional basketball player.
A 6'9" center, Usevitch averaged 21 points and 14 rebounds per game as a senior at Ocean View High School (California) in 1981–82. He then played at Brigham Young University from 1982 to 1988,<ref name=jersey>{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-06-11-sp-400-story.html |title=Ocean View Retires the Jerseys of Usevitch and Butler |last=Ludovise |first=Barbie |date=June 11, 1992 |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=4 October 2019}}.</ref> and was an All-WAC honorable mention in his final season after posting averages of 14.8 points and 7.2 rebounds. He also tallied a team-high 41 blocks that year.<ref name="Chatman">{{cite web |url=https://www.deseret.com/1988/6/26/18769892 |title=Despite fine year, Chatman's chances in draft are slim |last=Rock |first=Brad |date=June 26, 1988 |website= |publisher=Deseret News |access-date=December 28, 2009 }}{{Dead link|date=November 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Usevitch's college career was interrupted for two seasons while he served as a Mormon missionary in New Zealand.<ref name="Useful">{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-02-13-sp-10926-story.html |title=Useful Usevitch; There Are Better Basketball Players, but None Work Harder Than Brigham Young Center |last=Lowery |first=Steve |date=February 13, 1988 |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=}}</ref><ref name="Mormons">{{cite web |url=https://www.si.com/vault/1988/02/08/106778764/stormin-mormons |title=STORMIN' MORMONS |last= |first= |date=February 8, 1988 |website= |publisher=Sports Illustrated |access-date=4 October 2019}}</ref>
After college, Usevitch competed professionally in Europe, Israel,<ref name=jersey/> Greece<ref name="contra">[https://www.contra.gr/longreads/otan-oi-xenoi-itan-enas.7289993.html A1: Όταν οι ξένοι ήταν... ένας!] {{in lang|el}}</ref> and the CBA.<ref>"Moore tops National CBA Stars". ''USA Today''. January 15, 1992. Sports, 7C.</ref> In October 1991, Usevitch tried out for the Los Angeles Clippers of the NBA, but he was released by the team before the regular season began.<ref name="Surgery">{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-10-20-sp-415-story.html |title=Smith Has Surgery, Is Out Four to Six Weeks |last=Howard Cooper |first=Scott |date=October 20, 1991 |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{BYU athlete|jim-usevitch|m|bk}} *[https://byucougars.com/athlete/m-basketball/11359/Jim-Usevitch BYU athlete Profile] *[http://195.56.77.208/player/?id=USE-JIM Italian League profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208181913/http://195.56.77.208/player/?id=USE-JIM |date=2012-02-08 }} *[https://basket.co.il/all-time-players.asp?PlayerId=10371&lang=en Israel Super League Profile]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Usevitch, Jim}} Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:AEK B.C. players Category:Atomics Brussels players Category:American expatriate basketball people in Israel Category:American expatriate basketball people in Italy Category:American expatriate basketball people in Greece Category:American men's basketball players Category:American Mormon missionaries in New Zealand Category:BYU Cougars men's basketball players Category:Centers (basketball) Category:Dinamo Sassari players Category:Greek Basket League players Category:Hapoel Haifa B.C. players Category:Israeli Basketball Premier League players Category:Latter Day Saints from California Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:Power forwards Category:Basketball players from Huntington Beach, California Category:Tri-City Chinook players Category:Ocean View High School alumni Category:20th-century American sportsmen