Grant Troutt, a standout point guard from Dallas, Texas, and Jarriesse Blackmon, an outstanding combination forward from Layton, Utah, have signed National Letters of Intent to play basketball at UC Santa Barbara, head coach Bob Williams announced Thursday.
“We are very pleased to add two outstanding players and outstanding young men to our team,” Williams said. “Grant and Jarriesse are both perfect fits for our program and they will help to keep us going in a very good direction.”
Troutt, a 6-foot-2 and 185-pound senior, averaged 12 points, five assists, two rebounds and two steals per game as a junior for Episcopal School of Dallas. As a sophomore he averaged 10 points and three assists. He also drew rave reviews as the starting point guard with the Texas Titans on the AAU Nike EYBL Circuit, averaging 11.4 points, 6.4 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game with a career-high 34-point performance. Troutt shot 42% from three-point range and 76% from the free throw line. In addition to his time with the Titans, he attended the LeBron James Skills Camp and the Nike 100 Camp in 2014.
“Grant is a big, strong point guard who is really adept at running a team,” Williams said. “He has very good ball skills and passing skills, and what I like best is that he’s played against the best guards in the country at the AAU level and he knows what that level is like.”
As a junior at Layton High School, the 6-foot-6, 210-pound Blackmon was named Third Team 5A All-State after leading his team to the state championship tournament. Blackmon averaged 16.7 points, 10.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 2.0 blocks and 2.0 steals per game. His rebound average ranked first in the state among 5A players while his steals were 10th. Blackmon scored a career-high of 35 points in a win over Taylorsville High School, had 21 rebounds against Brighton High School and had as many as seven blocked shots in a single game. As a junior, he recorded 13 double-doubles in his team’s 24 contests and he also had 31 three-point baskets.
“Jarriesse is in the mold of (Michael) Bryson, John Green, Orlando (Johnson) and (James) Nunnally,” Williams said. “He is a combo 3-4 forward who is long and bouncy. He’s a natural rebounder at both ends of the floor, a shot blocker on the defensive end and he runs the floor very well. The other thing I really love about Jarriesse is that he is highly competitive.”
The Gauchos have two seniors on their current roster – forward Alan Williams and point guard Zalmico Harmon – and the two incoming recruits will fill those spots.
“This class we really recruited to fill needs,” Williams said. “When we added Ami (Lakoju) late in the spring, we took care of filling the five-man spot, but we still needed to add a point guard and a combo forward. We’ve done that and we’ve done it with two more high-character young men who have played against the highest level of competition.”
UCSB opens the 2014-15 regular season on Friday, Nov. 14 at No. 5 Kansas. After playing at Florida-Gulf Coast on Monday, Nov. 17, the Gauchos will return to Santa Barbara for their home opener on Nov. 22 at 4:00 p.m. against The Master’s College.
