A Close Look in at DeJon Jarreau - Is He the Savior of UMASS?
As a consensus four-star recruit from Louisiana, DeJon Jarreau is a specially-gifted player who will soon be at the top of the Atlantic 10's best performers sooner rather than later. I did not have to be anywhere near the basketball court or the conference room to know what UMASS head coach Derek Kellogg proposed to the young guard. He more than likely told the Louisiana native that he would be able to run the Minutemen offense through him and Jarreau would one day win the Atlantic 10 player of the year, be a consensus all-A10 first team player, and make his way comfortably into the NBA Draft. That sounds like a very similar pitch that any Atlantic 10 coach would present to DeJon Jarreau, given his talent and still growing potential. Unfortunately, the Rhode Island Rams were not one of the many teams that pursued and offered Jarreau.
I feel the need to address URI's "lack of interest" in DeJon Jarreau for a multitude of reasons. First off, there is no accident that occurs when a basketball player is ranked as the No. 39 overall player by Rivals, No. 56 overall player by 247Sports, and No. 62 overall player by ESPN. Talents like this do not only not come to a team like Rhode Island or Massachusetts, but they rarely ever commit to a team in the Atlantic 10 conference. I understand that at the time that Jarreau was being recruited that URI already had a plethora of talent in the backcourt that already included E.C. Matthews, Jared Terrell, Jarvis Garrett, and Stanford Robinson. With that said, a college basketball team can never have too many scorers and more importantly, shot creators.
To the Rhode Island Rams, defense has always come first under defensive-minded head coach Dan Hurley and offense has lacked on more than once occasion. Dejon Jarreau fits all of the Rams needs to this day, considering that he is a capable defender who can score at will, while creating his own shot. Although URI has made huge strides in their offense as a team in the 2016-2017 season, they still lack shot-creators, outside of Terrell and Garrett. At 6-5 and 182 pounds, he has the exact build of a Dan Hurley-coached guard.
With the recruitment from Rhode Island of Louisiana natives Christion Thompson (who I have featured previously) and Michael Layssard, I would have been ecstatic to hear about the recruitment of another Louisiana talent in Jarreau. On the flip side, I have a problem with the simple fact that URI had to know that UMASS was aggressively pursuing the star talent from New Orleans, LA. If they could not be convinced to try to recruit him for his unique skill set, they could not possibly allow UMASS to receive his commitment. By allowing this very tragedy to happen, Derek Kellogg accrued his best recruiting class ever while at UMASS and the Minutemen have too much talent not to be a talent in the near future with all of their young stars.
For my fellow URI fans, we all witnessed what this young man can do when he dropped 15 points to go with 9 dimes against the Rams in the Ryan Center on January 16, 2017 in front of 6,202 strong. When Rhode Island held a 10-point lead in the dwindling minute of the game, it was this heralded UMASS guard who lead the furious rally back including an and-one layup that had no business going in. With the Rhode Island faithful on the edge of their seats, the team from Kingston, RI was able to barely pull out the victory but not for a lack of performance from DeJon Jarreau. After the game, I could see the praise that Dan Hurley gave Jarreau in the handshake line. Let's just say, I would be thrilled to have Dejon Jarreau manage to go from a UMASS jersey to a URI jersey before he is done with college basketball.
To date, DeJon Jarreau has modest stats in his first year of collegiate basketball that totals 9.3 PPG, 3.7 RPG, and 4.3 APG. For the people quick to criticize, everyone must realize that Jarreau averages a measly 24.1 minutes per game and he also missed about two weeks with a foot injury. Thus, it is within reason why his shooting numbers are not out-of-this world, yet.
Anyone can assume that I'm hyping up Jarreau a bit too much which is fair criticism but they must also realize what kind of unworldly talent he is for a mid-major conference. He possesses the shiftiness and explosiveness to get by any defender, no matter how fast or big they may be. Moreover, the athletic guard scores when no one expects him to and that can include his own team and his own fans. If you think that he cannot shine in the big moments, there is a reason why he dropped 25 on the road at Mississippi, a power-conference (SEC) team that was keyed in on UMASS's #3. Like many others before me have said and written, DeJon Jarreau possesses an uncanny "it-factor" that not many basketball players are lucky enough to have. When you watch #3 get on the court, you are more than likely in for a show.
One has to wonder how much damage Jarreau will do with his remaining three seasons in the Atlantic 10. If the temptation of the NBA does not creep in too much, I hope I'm never rooting for the team that opposes DeJon Jarreau because he has already exhibited the extraordinary things he can do in his freshman year. If he ever beats URI single-handedly in the future, do not say that I did not tell everyone so.
As many people know, I take a good amount of interest in many college basketball players' social media involvement. In the words of a tweet from DeJon Jarreau, "Loyalty run a long way. Stay solid."
