Hayford on Jois: “Venky is a threat to have a double-double every night out. He plays with great passion and energy, and is a captain of our team. Venky has been a foundation in the building of our program -- he is an outstanding student, a great leader, and committed to developing into the best basketball player he can be. I join all Eagle fans in anticipating a great senior year for Venky. ”
Career: Jois has 26 double-doubles in his 90-game career (88 as a starter), and is averaging 14.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.0 steals and 2.0 blocked shots per game as an Eagle. He became the 18th player in EWU history to go over the 1,000-point mark in his career (versus Lewis-Clark State on 12/22/14), and has a current total of 1,278 points to rank 10th. He continues to add to his career record for blocked shots, and now has 184 in his career to rank sixth all-time in the Big Sky Conference (three behind fifth and 63 away from the record of 247). A duplication of last year’s school-record 69 blocks would break the league record by six. His 14.20 scoring average is currently 12th all-time at EWU and his 8.2 rebounding average is eighth. Jois owns three of the top five single season blocked shots performances in school history, including 68 as a junior (school record), 49 as a sophomore (fifth) and 66 as a freshman (third). Jois has had 16 performances in his career with at least 20 points and two with at least 30, and 29 times he has registered double figures in rebounds.
2015-16: Was picked as the preseason choice for Big Sky Conference MVP honors, one of just seven players league-wide selected by a panel of sportswriters, broadcasters and sports information directors in the league. College Sports Madness also named him to its preseason Mid-Major All-America team as a third team choice. In addition, College Sports Madness picked him as its preseason Big Sky Player of the Year as a first team selection on its all-league squad. Jois will serve as a team co-captain (for a third year) along with Felix Von Hofe.
2014-15: Selected for the third time on the All-Big Sky Conference team, Jois was a first team choice by the league’s head coaches, and then was named to the Big Sky Conference All-Tournament team. He also earned Big Sky All-Academic honors for third time. Jois ranked fifth in the league and was 93rd nationally in per game scoring (16.7), second/sixth in field goal percentage (61.0 percent), second/38th in blocked shots per game (2.23) and fourth/96th in rebounding (7.7). Jois, who missed four full games and parts of two others in league play with a sprained ankle, ranked in the top 10 in all three categories in Big Sky games as well, averaging 15.0 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.5 blocks while making 60.1 percent of his shots. Jois served as one of the team’s co-captains in the 2014-15 season (along with Parker Kelly and Tyler Harvey) and was nominated for Academic All-America honors based on his success on the court and in the classroom. With a pair of blocked shots in EWU’s season-ending loss to Georgetown (3/19/15) in the NCAA Tournament, Jois finished with 69 blocked shots to break the school record of 68 set by Martin Seiferth in 2013. He closed the season by making 8-of-12 shots from the field and finishing with 19 points and eight rebounds against the Hoyas. He had his fifth-straight double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky Conference Tournament against Idaho (3/12/15), then had 19 in a semifinal victory over Sacramento State (3/13/15). His two baskets started a game-ending 21-6 run for Eastern in a championship game victory over Montana (3/14/15) to overcome an 11-point Grizzly lead with six minutes left. Jois had his third and fourth consecutive double-doubles to earn Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honors on March 9 for EWU’s road sweep over Idaho State (85-81 on 3/5/15) and Weber State (79-71 in overtime on 3/7/15). It was just the second time since 2004 that the Eagles have registered a two-game road sweep in the league, having won on the road earlier in the season at Montana and Montana State. In the two games, Jois averaged 21.5 points and 13.0 rebounds while making 19-of-29 shots from the field for 65.5 percent. He had 21 points and 10 rebounds against Idaho State, then had 22 points and a career-high 16 boards versus Weber State. In the last four games of the regular season, he averaged 20.0 points and 12.0 rebounds while making 66.0 percent of his shots (35-of-53). Jois, who was hampered in January and February with a sprained ankle, finished the season with eight double-doubles on the season to increase his career total to 26. He went without a double-double from Dec. 14 to Feb. 21, then had five-straight. He finished with 22 points at Southern Utah (2/19/15) for his highest scoring output in exactly two months since scoring 23 versus Cal 12/19/14). Eastern’s first two league losses of the season came when Jois had been held out because of a sprained ankle. He missed the Portland State game (2/14/15) after aggravating his injury in EWU’s victory over Sacramento State two days earlier. He had missed the previous game in January versus Sac State (1/17/15) as well as two other full games and parts of two others. His best week of the season started with a double-double in an epic win over Indiana (11/24/14) when he finished with 20 points and 14 boards. After finishing with 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists in a victory over a victory over Northern Kentucky (11/26/14), he had the best back-to-back scoring performances in school history when he had 38 versus Eastern Oregon (11/30/14) and 38 again at Seattle (12/6/14). As a result, he earned both the College Sports Madness Mid-Major Player of the Week and Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honors. He had 110 points (27.5 average), 34 rebounds and 16 blocked shots in four games while making 42-of-63 shots from the field (67 percent). In a three-game stretch from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11, Jois made 23-of-27 free throws for 85.1 percent, but in the other games he played during the season, he made 69-of-149 (46.3 percent). He made 71.2 percent from the line as a freshman (89-of-125), 52.8 percent as a sophomore (94-of-178) and was at 54.0 percent (87-of-156) as a junior. He was selected as a preseason All-Big Sky selection by Lindy’s Magazine (first team) and College Sports Madness (second team).
2013-14: An honorable mention All-Big Sky Conference selection for the second-straight year, he also earned second team All-BSC honors from College Sports Madness and College Hoops Daily selected him to its All-Big Sky squad. In addition, Jois was named to the Big Sky All-Academic team for the second-straight season and he earned EWU’s scholar athlete of the month accolades. He was EWU’s second-leading scorer with a 13.4 average (12th in the Big Sky) on 52.8 percent shooting from the field (ninth). He also averaged a team-leading 8.0 rebounds (fourth), as well as 2.5 assists and 1.6 blocks per game (third). He finished with nine double-doubles in the 2013-14 season to rank 71st in NCAA Division I, and his rebounding average was 95th. He had a career-high 29 points and 13 rebounds at Southern Utah (2/22/14), and one month earlier had a career-high 15 rebounds at Northern Arizona (1/16/14). He equaled a career high with seven assists versus Sacramento State (2/13/14). He was the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week after leading Eastern to a home sweep of Montana (1/9/14) and Montana State (11/11/14). He had 28 points, 17 rebounds, six assists, four blocked shots and three steals in the two games, and made 56.3 percent of his field goals. Earlier in the year he was selected to the 2K Sports Classic All-Tournament Team (along with teammate Tyler Harvey) when he averaged 15.0 points on 56.3 percent shooting, 6.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists in three games. He was also named to ESPN’s “All-Aussie” team selected by analyst Fran Fraschilla. The squad was revealed by Fraschilla during the New Mexico/Kansas game (2/14/13). In addition, Jois was selected by College Hoops Daily to its All-Big Sky Conference Team for the month of November when EWU went 5-2. Among his double-doubles – and his last of the season -- was an effort of 22 points and 11 rebounds versus North Dakota (3/1/14) when he also finished with three steals and a pair of blocked shots.
2012-13: Jois finished the season as the Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year, after averaging 12.3 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.4 blocked shots, 2.0 assists and nearly one steal per game. He won the award despite a mid-season ankle injury that kept him out of three games and limited him in several others. He became the fifth Eagle – all in the last 12 seasons -- to win the award, joining Marc Axton (2002), Matt Nelson (2004), Rodney Stuckey (2006) and Glen Dean (2010) as recipients. The 6-foot-7 native from Boronia, Australia, was also the lone Eagle on the BSC All-Conference team, earning honorable mention accolades. College Sports Madness selected Jois on its All-Big Sky second team, as well as the league’s Freshman of the Year. He was also one of a school-record nine Eagles to be selected to the Big Sky Conference All-Academic team. He finished second in the league and 46th nationally in rebounding (9.0), and was 33rd in the nation and tops in the Big Sky in blocked shots (2.4 per game). With 66 blocked shots for the season, he originally broke the school record of 51 set by Paul Butorac in 2006, but was passed by teammate Martin Seiferth (68). He was also 15th in the league in scoring (12.3) and 12th in field goal percentage (.488).
High School: Graduated from Box Hill High School in 2011, and was selected to the Victoria All-State team. He also participated in swimming, soccer, Australian rules football, cross country and athletics at Box Hill. He won numerous awards while he was there from 2006-2010. He was the Bob Staunton 2012 U-20 National Championship MVP, after leading the Victoria State Team to the championship and an unbeaten record. His team defeated South Australia 67-58 in the title game. St. Mary’s College and NBA standout Patty Mills won the Bob Staunton MVP Award in 2006 and 2007. In addition, Jois was the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) Youth Player of the Year in 2011, an award given to the top under-23 player and previously won by college and NBA standouts Patty Mills and Andrew Bogut. In his first season in the SEABL, he averaged 9.3 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game while making 48.7 percent of his shots from the field. In 2010, he led his U-18 Dandenong Rangers team to the championship in the McDonald’s National Junior Classic. While playing for the Victoria State Team in 2010, he averaged 8.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and nearly one assist per game, while making 61.2 percent of his field goal attempts. He was selected to the 12-player Victorian Secondary Schools’ Sports Association Boys 18 and Under Basketball Team. As part of the team, he competed in the School Sport Australia Event in Newcastle.
Personal: He was born July 7, 1993, in Upper Ferntree Cully in Australia. Full name is Venkatesha Jois, but goes by “Venky.” He is a pre-medicine major with a 3.50 grade point average. His parents are Markandeya and Jennifer Jois, who attended most of EWU’s games in February and early March of 2015, but they had to return to Australia prior to the NCAA Tournament. Venky has been playing piano for a number of years. His fellow Australians Felix Von Hofe, Geremy McKay, Jesse Hunt and Michael Wearne are also in the Eastern program. His name is pronounced “Ven-key” “Joyce.”
