Grace Baptist Academy senior Jared Roberts signed Thursday afternoon to continue his basketball career at Bryan College.
photo by Jaime Barrett
Until this spring, Grace Baptist Academy senior Jared Roberts wasn’t sure if he would have the opportunity to continue his basketball career in college.
Then Golden Eagles’ coach Jon Mattheiss reached out to Bryan College men’s coach Don Rekoske, beginning a relatively quick recruiting process that culminated Thursday afternoon with Roberts signing scholarship papers with the Dayton, Tenn., school in front of family and friends in the Grace gymnasium.
“Bryan is one of the few colleges that really noticed me,” Roberts said. “After they first contacted me, I really liked Coach Rekoske and how personable he was. When I went up to see the school, everybody was really welcoming to me, and I was surprised at how nice their facilities are.”
The 6-foot-1 player averaged 16 points, seven rebounds, three steals and three assists for the Golden Eagles this season. He was recently awarded for being the team’s top offensive player, but Mattheiss said Roberts’ greatest asset was his versatility.
“In a lot of games, he was our offense,” Mattheiss said. “We didn’t score a lot of points, but we were pretty good on defense. Without Jared’s ability to score, we probably would have struggled a lot more. The other award he received was Most Versatile, because Jared would be at center, then the next thing you know he’d be bringing the ball down the court. Then he’s on the wing, then he’s playing defense inside, then he’s playing defense on the guard outside, so he did a little bit of everything.
“We’re excited for him and for this opportunity at Bryan. We’re proud of him, and we’re sorely going to miss him next year.”
The Golden Eagles’ loss will be the Lions’ gain, and while Rekoske agreed that Robert’s versatility is his strong point on the court, his efforts in the classroom, including a 4.0 GPA, helped peak the coach’s interest as well.
“At Bryan, we’re not looking for just a basketball player; we’re looking for a young man who’s going to enjoy his entire college experience,” Rekoske said. “When Coach Mattheiss called me on behalf of Jared, I was immediately very excited to talk to him. When I saw his grades, I was impressed and that drew me to him.
“Jared came out and played with our players, and played extremely well. His versatility is really what we liked most about him as a basketball player. Jared is going to do very well, and I think you’re going to see him get better every year because of the type of person he is and the work ethic he has. It’s a real privilege for us to recruit this young man, and for him to come to Bryan and play for us.”
Likewise, Roberts is excited to begin work with the Lions, a NAIA team who compete in the Appalachian Athletic Conference.
“They have a lot of experienced players, and I feel like they’re going to be able to lead us so we can hopefully get back to the national tournament,” Roberts said. “If there’s any way I can help with that, then I absolutely want to do that. Any role I can play on that team, I’m willing to do it.”
(E-mail Jaime Barrett at jaimenbarrett@gmail.com)