FC Bayern Basketball has added the next piece to their roster puzzle for the 2025/2026 season: The German champions are strengthening their shooting guard position with Justinian Jessup. The American has signed a two-year contract through 2027. Both sides got to know each other well by the end of June, as the 27-year-old left-hander played last season for Finals opponent Ulm (3:2).
With his move to Munich, Jessup will make his debut in the EuroLeague. In the 2024/2025 season, he played in the second-highest competition, the EuroCup, where he was Ulm’s top scorer: In the 18 regular-season games, he averaged 13 points in 30 minutes per game, with a 40.6 percent three-point shooting rate, along with 4.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists.
“JJ” was Ulm’s top scorer in the EuroCup
"I'm incredibly excited to be playing at EuroLeague level for the first time. It's the best competition, with many big, historic clubs, and Bayern puts up a strong fight every year," says Jessup, who is currently on a camping vacation in the Canadian Rocky Mountains with his three siblings. "This was my third year in Europe, and it's definitely the right time for me to take on the EuroLeague challenge."
He has already spoken with head coach Gordon Herbert, Jessup adds. "The roster is still being put together, but I think he'll make use of my strengths—shooting and also playmaking. I'm already excited to play again at the SAP Garden, because the finals there in front of the fans were a lot of fun. And it would be great if this time I could win the final there with my new team."
In the 2025 BBL Finals series against Bayern, Jessup slightly improved his scoring average to 13 points per game, just like in the European competition. In Ulm’s 81–79 away win at the SAP Garden to take a 2–1 series lead—which seemed like a turning point at the time—the smooth, dynamic wing player scored the last ten points for the visitors.
Return to the SAP Garden as a EuroLeague rookie
In March 2024, Jessup joined the easyCredit BBL from New Zealand after a longer injury. Before that, he had spent his first two professional years until 2022 in the NBL (which primarily features Australian teams), playing for the Illawarra Hawks after his college career at Boise State in Idaho (where he averaged 16.0 points per game in his final year).
Following that, the 51st pick of the 2020 NBA Draft (Golden State; rights now held by Memphis) played in the NBA Summer League wearing a Warriors jersey, then had a very strong first season in Europe in 2022/2023 in the top-tier Spanish ACB league: 11.6 points per game with nearly 38% from three for Zaragoza, highlighted by a 28-point performance in a 94–89 win over Real Madrid on game day seven. When he joined Ulm for the final third of last season, he immediately took on a major role under coach Anton Gavel, averaging 11 points per game on 41% three-point shooting.
“We’ve been closely following JJ’s performances in the BBL and EuroCup for quite some time,” says FCBB sporting director Dragan Tarlac. “And in our view, he’s now ready to take the next step onto the big EuroLeague stage. He will bring us added quality with his special talent as a precise shooter and hard worker on both ends of the court. We’re very pleased that we were able to bring him on board.”
JUSTINIAN JESSUP (* 23. May 1998, Longmont, Colorado/USA)
Shooting Guard – 1,98 m – 97 kg
- 2016 – 2020 Boise State University (NCAA)
- 2020 – 2022 Illawarra Hawks (NBL/AUS)
- 2022 – 2023 Basket Zaragoza (ACB/ESP)
- 2023 – 2024 New Zealand Breakers (NBL/NZL)
- 3/2024 – 2025 ratiopharm Ulm (BBL)
Awards:
- 51st pick NBA Draft 2020
- 2020 Second Team All-Mountain West Conference
- 2019 Third-Team All Mountain West Conference
- 2018 All-state first team, Northern League Athlete of the Year
- 2015 All-State first team, Colorado 4A Player of the Year, Northern League Athlete of the Year, All-state first team (Longmont High School)