Ham_Ji-hoon
Ham Ji-hoon
South Korean basketball player
Ham Ji-hoon (born December 11, 1984) is a South Korean professional basketball player. He plays for Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus in the Korean Basketball League and is the club's captain and longest-serving player after Yang Dong-geun.
 | |
| No. 12 – Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus | |
|---|---|
| Position | Forward |
| League | Korean Basketball League |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1984-12-11) December 11, 1984 (age 39) South Korea |
| Nationality | South Korean |
| Listed height | 197.4 cm (6 ft 6 in) |
| Listed weight | 103 kg (227 lb) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Kyungbock High School |
| College | Chung-Ang University |
| KBL draft | 2007: 1st round, 10th overall pick |
| Playing career | 2007–present |
| Career history | |
| 2007–present | Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus |
| 2010–2012 | → Sangmu (military service) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Medals | |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 함지훈 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 咸志勳 |
| Revised Romanization | Ham Ji-hun |
| McCune–Reischauer | Ham Chihun |
Ham attended Kyungbock High School and played as a forward before being converted into a center at Chung-Ang University.[1][2] Although his height, at just under 200 cm, is not considered tall for a center even by KBL standards, he stood out for his physicality.[2] Together with fellow seniors future MVP winners Park Sang-oh and Yoon Ho-young and freshman Oh Se-keun, they won the MBC Cup two years in a row, breaking Yonsei University's stranglehold and Ham was named tournament MVP of the 2006 edition.[3] They also won the 2007 National Basketball Festival (농구대잔치) competition, the main collegiate competition of that time.
Having been overshadowed by his Chung-Ang teammates, Ham mostly flew under the radar and it was reflected in his draft ranking. He was drafted tenth overall at the 2007 rookie draft by Ulsan Mobis Phoebus.[4] Under Yoo Jae-hak, he developed a reputation as a "blue worker", a Konglish corruption of the term blue-collar worker and a colloquialism in domestic basketball used to describe an unflashy yet essential player often tasked with defending the post or the more physical aspects of the team strategy. By his second season, he had played in all five positions.[2]
Ham enlisted for mandatory military service in April 2010 and was assigned the Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps's Sangmu team. He was discharged in February 2012.[5]
After Yang Dong-geun's retirement, Ham became the team captain and their longest-serving player.[6] He reached two career benchmarks within days of each other during the 2021–21 season: scoring 7,000 points and recording 2,400 assists.[7]
Ham married his girlfriend of six years in April 2012.[5][8] They have two sons.[9]
- "중앙대학교의 졸업생 알아보기! 중앙대 OB탐방" (in Korean). Chung-Ang University. October 22, 2017.
- "[프로농구] '블루워커' 함지훈의 역발상". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). February 14, 2009.
- "[MBC배 대학농구] 중앙대, 6년만에 정상 탈환". The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). April 28, 2006.
- "'드래프트 10등의 반란' 함지훈". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). October 2, 2007.
- "[줌 인 스타] 함지훈, 날 기다린 '사랑의 고무신'…우승을 선물할게!". The Dong-a Ilbo (in Korean). March 5, 2012.
- "[10개 구단 주장 인터뷰] 9. 울산 현대모비스 피버스 함지훈". Basketball Life (농구인생) (in Korean). October 24, 2020.
- "[기록] 현대모비스 함지훈, 통산 2,400어시스트 달성..역대 7호". Jumpball (in Korean). January 1, 2022.
- ""결혼 예물은 챔피언 반지"". The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). March 2, 2012.
- "[매거진] '아빠는 말이야!' KBL을 누비는 아빠 선수들이 아이들에게". Jumpball (in Korean). March 26, 2020.
- Career Statistics from the Korean Basketball League website (in Korean)