André LeRond’d Emmett Jr. born August 27, 1982, in Dallas, Texas to Regina Oliver and the late André Emmett Sr. As a young man, André accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior at St. Luke Community United Methodist Church. André completed his formal education in the Dallas Independent School District, graduating from David W. Carter High School in 2000.
He later received a bachelor’s degree in business from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas in 2004. During his tenure at Texas Tech University, André’s basketball career excelled under the legendary coach Bobby Knight. André’s accomplishments upon departing from Texas Tech included being a Consensus All-American selection (2004), two-time Big 12 leading scorer, the first three-time First Team All-Big 12 Conference (2002-2004) member, NCAA slam dunk champion (2004), and all-time point’s leader (2,256) with most career field goals made (882).
He was drafted in the second round of the National Basketball Association (NBA) draft as the 35th overall pick and played professionally with the Memphis Grizzlies and New Jersey Nets. He then played in the NBA’s Developmental League where he earned the league’s All-Star Game MVP award in 2015 before enjoying a long and successful career playing basketball overseas in Europe and Asia.
In 2018, André joined the BIG3 League, a 3-on-3 basketball organization founded by hip hop musician and actor Ice Cube and entertainment industry executive Jeff Kwatinetz. He was selected as the second overall pick. For the past two seasons, he played for 3’s Company and racked up a number of awards, including multiple “player of the week” awards, and emerged as a leading MVP candidate.
André was also inducted into the Hall of Fame (2018) at Texas Tech and was one of its inaugural inductees into the Basketball Ring of Honor (2019) with his name now permanently etched inside United Supermarkets Arena. Off the court, André always had a love for children and he established a non-profit foundation called Dreams Really Exist (DRE) in April 2019 to help empower them to maximize their potential.
His mission was to impact the youth of communities across the country by providing underprivileged children with resources needed to thrive and succeed in today’s society by way of academics and/or athletics.
André was preceded in death by his father, André LeRond’d Emmett Sr., his maternal and paternal grandparents and his paternal grandmother. He leaves to cherish his memories, two beautiful daughters, Kennedy Grace Emmett and Zara Sloan Emmett; mother, Regina D. Oliver; sisters, Darra N. Oliver, Rafiki Carter, Tiffanie Carter, Sasha Emmett (Jorge), Si Mon’ Emmett, and Raleighla Clewis; aunts, Karen Y. Oliver Thomas (Tony), Eura Oliver, and Geri Evans; nieces, nephews and a host of cousins.
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