Julian Champagnie
Julian Champagnie | |
|---|---|
| Born | Julian Kymani Champagnie June 29, 2001 Staten Island, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Professional basketball player |
| Years active | 2019–present |
| Known for | Playing for the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA |
Julian Kymani Champagnie ( ; born June 29, 2001) is a professional American basketball athlete currently playing for the San Antonio Spurs in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He competed at the collegiate level with the St. John's Red Storm, where he earned two all-conference distinctions within the Big East.
Early life
Born in Staten Island, New York and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Champagnie attended Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School, sharing the court with his twin brother, Justin Champagnie. During his senior year, he averaged 17.2 points per game and received First Team honors in the Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA) AA division. He committed to play for St. John's, selecting it over offers from programs such as Pittsburgh, Washington State, Cincinnati, and Seton Hall.
College career
Champagnie posted a freshman season-best 23 points along with six rebounds on March 4, 2020, despite a 77–55 defeat against Butler. Shortly after, on March 7, he contributed 21 points and 12 rebounds to help secure an 88–86 victory over Marquette. His freshman campaign concluded with averages of 9.9 points and 6.5 rebounds per contest, earning him two Big East Freshman of the Week awards and a spot on the All-Freshman Team.
In his sophomore season opener on November 30, 2020, Champagnie delivered 29 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in a narrow 97–93 win against Boston College. On January 9, 2021, he scored a career-high 33 points and grabbed 10 rebounds during a loss to seventh-ranked Creighton, marking the first time since 2015 that a St. John's player recorded a 30-point double-double. He ended that season averaging 19.8 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.4 steals, and one block per game.
Following that season, Champagnie declared for the 2021 NBA draft but withdrew his name on July 4 to return for his junior year at St. John's. On January 5, 2022, he set a new personal scoring record with 34 points in an 89–84 victory over the DePaul Blue Demons. His junior year statistics included averages of 19.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, two steals, and 1.1 blocks per game, earning him First Team All-Big East honors for the second straight year. On April 2, 2022, Champagnie declared for the 2022 NBA draft, foregoing any remaining college eligibility; however, he was not selected.
Philadelphia 76ers (2022–2023)
After going undrafted in the 2022 NBA draft, Champagnie signed a two-way contract with the Philadelphia 76ers on June 24, 2022, splitting his time between the main roster and their NBA G League team, the Delaware Blue Coats. He was waived by Philadelphia on February 14, 2023.
San Antonio / Austin Spurs (2023–present)
Two days later, on February 16, 2023, the San Antonio Spurs claimed Champagnie off waivers and secured him with a two-way contract. He extended his tenure by re-signing with San Antonio on July 6, 2023.
On February 10, 2025, Julian competed against his twin brother Justin during an NBA matchup between the Spurs and the Washington Wizards, joining an exclusive group of twins facing each other professionally in the league. Throughout the entire 2024–25 NBA season, Champagnie appeared in all 82 games for San Antonio, averaging 9.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per contest.
NBA
|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 2 || 0 || 3.3 || .000 || .000 || || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.5 || 0.0 || 0.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| San Antonio | 15 || 3 || 20.9 || .461 || .407 || .824 || 4.0 || 0.7 || 0.3 || 0.3 || 11.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| San Antonio | 74 || 59 || 19.8 || .408 || .365 || .815 || 2.8 || 1.4 || 0.6 || 0.6 || 6.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| San Antonio | bgcolor=cfecec|82* || 29 || 23.6 || .415 || .371 || .904 || 3.1 || 1.4 || 0.7 || 0.4 || 9.9 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 173 || 91 || 21.5 || .417 || .372 || .857 || 3.4 || 1.3 || 0.7 || 0.5 || 8.6
College
|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2019–20 | style="text-align:left;"| St. John's | 32 || 26 || 25.6 || .453 || .312 || .754 || 6.5 || 0.8 || 1.2 || 0.8 || 9.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2020–21 | style="text-align:left;"| St. John's | 25 || 24|| 32.9|| .433|| .380|| .887|| 7.4||1.3||1.4||1.0|| 19.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2021–22 | style="text-align:left;"| St. John's |31|| 31|| 34.2|| .414|| .337|| .781||6.6|| 2.0|| 2.0|| 1.1||19.2 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career |88||81||30.7|| .429|| .348|| .815||6.8||1.4||1.5||1.0||16.0
Personal life
Born in the United States with Jamaican ancestry, Champagnie's identical twin brother, Justin Champagnie, is also a professional player currently with the Washington Wizards. Growing up in Kensington, Brooklyn, he embodies deep New York City roots spanning multiple generations; his maternal relatives hail from Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, while his father emigrated from Jamaica and was raised in the Bronx.
His father, Ranford, was part of the St. John's men's soccer squad that won a national championship during the mid-1990s and has since built a career as a professional coach at Baruch College and York College, both institutions within the City University of New York system.