| No. 2–Windy City Bulls | |
|---|---|
| Position | Point guard |
| League | NBA G League |
| Personal information | |
| Born | January 19, 2001 New Jersey, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Listed weight | 165 lb (75 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Lithonia (Stonecrest, Georgia) |
| College | |
| NBA draft | 2024: undrafted |
| Playing career | 2024–present |
| Career history | |
| 2024–2025 | Maine Celtics |
| 2025–present | Windy City Bulls |
Eric T. Gaines (born January 19, 2001) is an American professional basketball player for the Windy City Bulls of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the LSU Tigers and UAB Blazers.
Gaines was born in New Jersey and moved to Lithonia, Georgia, as a child. [1] He first played football but transitioned into basketball. [1] Gaines was taller than his teammates and primarily played as a center but utilised his speed for a playstyle that involved him grabbing a defensive rebound and beating defenders up the court with his dribble. [1]
Gaines attended Lithonia High School where he did not receive much scouting attention during his first two seasons. [1] He developed a reputation for his dunking abilities during his senior year and received comparisons to Ja Morant which Gaines attributes to increasing his recruitment offers. [1] He averaged 18.6 points, 4 assists, and 2.7 steals per game during his senior season. [2] Gaines was selected as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution All-Metro DeKalb County Player of the Year. [3] [4] He was a four-star recruit and committed to playing college basketball for LSU. [1]
Gaines averaged 2.5 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game during his freshman season with the LSU Tigers. [5] He improved his output to nine points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game during his sophomore season while his 2.1 steals per game led the Southeastern Conference. [4] [5] Gaines was primarily utilised as a distributor and defender with the Tigers. [1] He decided to transfer from the team when head coach Will Wade was fired after the 2021–22 season. [1]
On April 12, 2022, Gaines committed to play for UAB. [2] [5] He averaged 11.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game during the 2022–23 season. [6] Gaines declared for the 2023 NBA draft but withdrew on May 30, 2023. [7]
On April 5, 2024, Gaines declared for the 2024 NBA draft, [8] but went undrafted. [9] On October 26, 2024, Gaines was selected by the Maine Celtics in the 2024 NBA G League draft. [10]
On January 24, 2025, Gaines was traded to the Windy City Bulls. [11]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020–21 | LSU | 29 | 1 | 13.4 | .222 | .172 | .727 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 1.0 | .2 | 2.5 |
| 2021–22 | LSU | 34 | 8 | 26.9 | .391 | .250 | .793 | 3.3 | 2.9 | 2.1 | .5 | 9.0 |
| 2022–23 | UAB | 39 | 29 | 29.1 | .394 | .343 | .793 | 3.4 | 4.3 | 1.8 | .6 | 11.5 |
| 2023–24 | UAB | 35 | 33 | 33.7 | .393 | .269 | .750 | 3.9 | 5.5 | 2.3 | .5 | 12.3 |
| Career | 137 | 71 | 26.4 | .380 | .279 | .773 | 3.1 | 3.6 | 1.9 | .5 | 9.2 | |