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Gant talks his MU transfer
Posted on: February 5, 2019 at 11:14:08 CT
FIJItiger MU
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https://www.theadvertiser.com/story/sports/college/ul/2019/01/18/ul-basketball-gants-103-point-cajuns-run-fueled-chip-cereal/2618549002/
It was the spring of 2016, and JaKeenan Gant was done at Missouri after two seasons with the SEC’s Tigers.
Back home in Georgia, Gant was hanging out at the residence belonging to a relative of one of his former Effingham County High teammates, point guard Jay Wright, who at the time had just finished his junior season at UL.
“I was at his brother’s house,” Gant recalled, “and all of us were just chillin’ after I left Missouri and I was trying to figure out where I wanted to go to school.
“He (Wright) was like, ‘I can call my coach.’ And it kind of just happened, basically. … So we called Coach Marlin, and got the deal done.”
The victory in Statesboro, located about 35 miles from Gant’s Georgia hometown of Springfield, came in front of family and friends on an evening he surpassed 1,000 career points including his time at Mizzou.
“It was exciting,” Gant, one of just four NCAA Division I players averaging more than 30.0 points per game in conference play, said of the experience. “I felt a lift off my shoulders.
“I felt like everything was just coming together, and it came at the right point, the right time of the season. I just feel good about how I’m playing and everything. I’m confident in what we’ve got going here.”
During a Jan. 10 UL loss at Georgia State, nine scouts representing eight different NBA teams were on hand in Atlanta.
Several had an eye on the Cajuns’ standout, too, something the 6-foot-8 Gant didn’t learn until after a 22-showing that also included 11 rebounds and a block.
Knowing that a next-level carrot dangles indeed is a motivating factor, though he swats the distraction like a floater in the lane.
“It’s on my mind,” Gant said of his pro possibilities, “but I block all that out and just try to win — and help out our young players, step up and just give them the energy and the motivation that they can do it."
“Last year we had many pieces, so he didn’t have to do that much,” Stroman said. “And at Missouri I don’t think he really got a chance to.”
But now?
“Coach Marlin is letting him go,” Stroman said, “and we see what he’s capable of.”
“He has the ability to be a stretch 4 … that’s an NBA term … a big that can take it beyond the 3-point line.
“He has the ability to score at the basket,” Murphy added. “And he made the mid-range jump shot as well. … So he scores at all three levels.”
After departing Missouri — where he averaged 5.0 points playing mostly reserve-role minutes, and left some minor disciplinary issues behind — Gant turned to a mid-major for his next opportunity.
With that came a second shot.
“I think he just wants to prove to everybody that he’s the player that everybody thought he was coming out of high school,” Stroman said.
One of 21 players picked to participate in USA Basketball’s Under 18 National Team training camp following his senior season in 2014, Gant named Georgia’s Mr. Basketball after averaging 21.0 points, 10.5 rebounds, 4.0 blocks and 2.8 assists for Effingham County.
So making the move from the SEC to the Sun Belt, as Stroman suggested, really is driving him, too.
“I had to be more dominant,” Gant said, “because I came from a higher program.
“I had that chip on my shoulder, so I had to play with that high intensity every game.”
The reigning Sun Belt Player of the Week now has 1,019 career points, 754 of them coming in less than two full seasons at UL.
Gant’s 45-point, 11-rebound game against Little Rock marked the sixth time this season a Division I player had recorded a 40-10 game, and it was the first 40-point performance by a Cajun since Sydney Grider had 41 at Ole Miss in 1989.
And at 19.8, 8.2 and 3.0, he’s the only active Division I player this season averaging at least 19 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks per game.
“I think it’s just him finally realizing, ‘Yo, this team needs me to do that,’” Stroman said of what’s really behind it.
“I think it finally clicked for him, ‘I’ve got to do this for this team to win.’ And I’m glad it did, because he’s taking full advantage of it.”
Edited by FIJItiger at 11:23:38 on 02/05/19
It was the spring of 2016, and JaKeenan Gant was done at Missouri after two seasons with the SEC’s Tigers.
Back home in Georgia, Gant was hanging out at the residence belonging to a relative of one of his former Effingham County High teammates, point guard Jay Wright, who at the time had just finished his junior season at UL.
“I was at his brother’s house,” Gant recalled, “and all of us were just chillin’ after I left Missouri and I was trying to figure out where I wanted to go to school.
“He (Wright) was like, ‘I can call my coach.’ And it kind of just happened, basically. … So we called Coach Marlin, and got the deal done.”
The victory in Statesboro, located about 35 miles from Gant’s Georgia hometown of Springfield, came in front of family and friends on an evening he surpassed 1,000 career points including his time at Mizzou.
“It was exciting,” Gant, one of just four NCAA Division I players averaging more than 30.0 points per game in conference play, said of the experience. “I felt a lift off my shoulders.
“I felt like everything was just coming together, and it came at the right point, the right time of the season. I just feel good about how I’m playing and everything. I’m confident in what we’ve got going here.”
During a Jan. 10 UL loss at Georgia State, nine scouts representing eight different NBA teams were on hand in Atlanta.
Several had an eye on the Cajuns’ standout, too, something the 6-foot-8 Gant didn’t learn until after a 22-showing that also included 11 rebounds and a block.
Knowing that a next-level carrot dangles indeed is a motivating factor, though he swats the distraction like a floater in the lane.
“It’s on my mind,” Gant said of his pro possibilities, “but I block all that out and just try to win — and help out our young players, step up and just give them the energy and the motivation that they can do it."
“Last year we had many pieces, so he didn’t have to do that much,” Stroman said. “And at Missouri I don’t think he really got a chance to.”
But now?
“Coach Marlin is letting him go,” Stroman said, “and we see what he’s capable of.”
“He has the ability to be a stretch 4 … that’s an NBA term … a big that can take it beyond the 3-point line.
“He has the ability to score at the basket,” Murphy added. “And he made the mid-range jump shot as well. … So he scores at all three levels.”
After departing Missouri — where he averaged 5.0 points playing mostly reserve-role minutes, and left some minor disciplinary issues behind — Gant turned to a mid-major for his next opportunity.
With that came a second shot.
“I think he just wants to prove to everybody that he’s the player that everybody thought he was coming out of high school,” Stroman said.
One of 21 players picked to participate in USA Basketball’s Under 18 National Team training camp following his senior season in 2014, Gant named Georgia’s Mr. Basketball after averaging 21.0 points, 10.5 rebounds, 4.0 blocks and 2.8 assists for Effingham County.
So making the move from the SEC to the Sun Belt, as Stroman suggested, really is driving him, too.
“I had to be more dominant,” Gant said, “because I came from a higher program.
“I had that chip on my shoulder, so I had to play with that high intensity every game.”
The reigning Sun Belt Player of the Week now has 1,019 career points, 754 of them coming in less than two full seasons at UL.
Gant’s 45-point, 11-rebound game against Little Rock marked the sixth time this season a Division I player had recorded a 40-10 game, and it was the first 40-point performance by a Cajun since Sydney Grider had 41 at Ole Miss in 1989.
And at 19.8, 8.2 and 3.0, he’s the only active Division I player this season averaging at least 19 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks per game.
“I think it’s just him finally realizing, ‘Yo, this team needs me to do that,’” Stroman said of what’s really behind it.
“I think it finally clicked for him, ‘I’ve got to do this for this team to win.’ And I’m glad it did, because he’s taking full advantage of it.”
Edited by FIJItiger at 11:23:38 on 02/05/19
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Gant talks his MU transfer - FIJItiger MU - 2/5 11:14:08