Magic sign guard Rodney Purvis for remainder of 2017-18 season
Orlando, Fla. -- The Orlando Magic have signed guard Rodney Purvis for the remainder of the 2017-18 regular season, President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman announced Wednesday.
Purvis (6’4”, 205, 2/14/94) has played in six games with Orlando, averaging 6.3 ppg. in 13.7 minpg. He has led (or tied) the team in scoring once and netted a career-high 19 points on Mar. 22 vs. Philadelphia. Purvis appeared and started in 39 games this season for the Lakeland Magic, Orlando’s NBA G League affiliate, averaging 20.5 ppg., 3.9 rpg., 3.4 apg. and 1.38 stlpg. in 38.1 minpg. He finished the season second in the NBA G League in minutes played and tied for fifth in scoring. Purvis led (or tied) the team in scoring 17 times and in assists 10 times. He scored 30+ points four times, including a season-high 40 points on Dec. 21 @ Westchester.
Purvis was selected to participate in the USA World Cup Qualifying Team training camp Feb. 15-20 and the G League International Challenge on Feb 18. After camp, Purvis was then selected to the 12-man team for the USA’s World Cup Qualifying first round, second-window games, including Cuba on Feb. 23 and Puerto Rico on Feb. 26 in Santa Cruz, Calif., where he averaged 13 ppg. in 23.0 minpg., while shooting 50 percent from the field. The FIBA World Cup Qualifying games are being used to qualify 31 of the 32 nations that will compete in the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
Purvis played in 137 career games (100 starts) during four years at both North Carolina State (2012-13) and the University of Connecticut (2014-17), averaging 11.6 ppg., 3.0 rpg. and 1.8 apg. in 29.1 minpg. Last season, he appeared in 33 games (32 starts), averaging 13.8 ppg., 4.2 rpg., 2.5 apg. and 1.03 stlpg. in 36.9 minpg. As a sophomore (2014-15), Purvis led the Huskies in scoring during the postseason, averaging 17.8 ppg., and was named to the 2015 American Athletic Conference’s All-Tournament Team.
