Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Where Are They Now: Jan Jagla

This came up in a conversation today so I feel obligated to pass it along. In involves a very a very large European who once stood damn near up to the ceiling on my buddie's living room wall:

Ok, this isn't the actual poster that I remember, but instead is Jan standing next to a grown ass man who comes up to his knees.

I wondered whatever happen to him, I mean 7 foot tall people don't just disappear, do they? Per his wikipedia page, which was apparently written by his mother:

Jan-Hendrik Jagla (born June 25, 1981 in Berlin, Germany) is a German professional basketball player. He spent three seasons (2001/02-2003/04) at the Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pennsylvania before turning pro. He went undrafted in the 2005 NBA Draft. He was signed by the Los Angeles Clippers for their 2005 training camp, but cut from the roster later. Though he stands 7 feet tall, Jan has the game of a 2-guard, and his game much resembles that of Dirk Nowitzki. Jan was also known to be a point forward in his college days, and would regularly bring the ball up the floor....He played for Türk Telekom B.K. of the Turkish premier division with high expectations for the 2006/2007 season. He is currently playing for Joventut Badalona from Spain. [emphasis added]

Dirk Nowitzki? Ok, my hockey game "much resembles" that of Paul Coffey, only I am not as quick, strong or smart. My shot is also much weaker and I do not have his vision. I also do not have my own line of hockey sticks...all minor details.

While that's all good stuff, this is the best part:
Always a fan favorite at Penn State, Jagla could often be seen at local bars and nightclubs, where he was eager to sign autographs. In fact, fans so loved the 7 foot star that Penn State's Student Bookstore ran a promotional campaign passing out Jagla "Measure Up" posters at Penn State Basketball games

So there is the "Measure Up" poster I was talking about (but cannot find, anyone with better search skills is encouraged to email me a link). I do remember seeing Jan often, but I think is was more a function of his height than anything else. As for the rest of it, I don't have much to add except that everyone at Penn State can "often be seen at local bars" and as far as I know there are no "nightclubs" in State College (for the record, a bar with black lights is not a nightclub, it is a bar).

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

i had that poster

Unknown said...

Jagla's game is a lot more like Nowitski's than you or many others would like to admit, similar enough that Jagla is Nowitski's backup on the German National team.

For more info on Jagla,

TheFolkist said...

When did he start referring to himself as Jan-Hendrik Jagla? There is something cool about the way Jan Jagla sounds and he's blowing it.

Scrappled said...

Nate Althouse's game is a lot like Jerry Stackhouse.