By Greg James

West Jordan - The odds of a high school senior getting drafted into the NBA is about three in 10,000 or .03 percent, roughly the same chance of drawing four of a kind. A West Jordan High School graduate is trying to overcome the odds and become that small percentage of NBA players.

Ray Gallegos, a 2009 Jaguar graduate, was recently invited to the NBA summer camp for the Detroit Pistons. He will have the opportunity to compete with other rookies and free agents for a place on the roster. The Pistons are scheduled to play in the Orlando Pro Summer League beginning July 4th (after press deadline).

The Piston finished last in the Eastern Conference Central Division with a 32-50 record. They drafted Stanley Johnson from Arizona with the eighth overall pick. They also missed the playoffs for the sixth straight season. Head Coach Stan Van Gundy has player needs at guard in the back court. Johnson is expected to fill that hole, but Gallegos could fill a spot with the team’s D-league affiliate the Grand Rapids Drive.

Gallegos spent the 2014-15 season playing with two teams in Latin America in the Mexican Basketball League, the Caballeros de Culican and Jefes Fuerza Lagunera. He played in 61 games and averaged 14.0 points per game. Gallegos was selected to the Mexican 2015 All-Star Game Feb.8.

He scored a professional career high 28 points May 23 against Mazatlan and had a triple-double (double figures in points, assists and rebounds) against Tijuana May 29. He had 21 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.

Gallegos went to the University of Nebraska where he played in 118 career games in five years for the Cornhuskers. He started three games as a freshman in 2009-10 and after red-shirting (sitting out a year)   he came back to average 12.4 points his junior season.

In 2013 he helped lead the Huskers into the NCAA tournament. He hit a three-pointer with 15 minutes 41 seconds left in the first half to put them up 12-6 over Ohio State, but the Buckeyes came back to defeat Nebraska 71-50 ousting them from the tournament. Gallegos scored six points in the loss.

In his college career he averaged 6.7 points per game while shooting 30 percent from behind the three point line. He went undrafted out of college and he has a pursued a professional career in Mexico.

Gallegos was part of the Jaguar state championship team in 2009. They beat Lone Peak 63-52 in the championship game. Gallegos had 22 points and Jordan Weirick scored 15 in the game. Jordan Loveridge, now at the University of Utah, was a freshman on that team. The Jaguars had lost to Lone Peak in 2008 in the semifinals.

The Jaguars have recorded two state championships, 2001 and 2009. Gallegos holds the Jaguar record for three pointers made in a season with 66 (2009). His 72 steals in 2009 are still tops in school history. He is third in season scoring with 417 points. Loveridge holds the school record with 540 in a season.