The University of Montana’s Kareem Jamar recently became the 28th player in school history to score 1,000 or more career points.
Jamar, a 6-foot-5, junior guard/forward from Venice, Calif., scored exactly 1,000 career points in his 84th career game for the Grizzlies.
Jamar reached the 1,000-point plateau in memorable fashion and on a national stage, as he scored a career-high 28 points in Montana’s 93-87 overtime loss at Davidson this past Saturday in a Ramada BracketBusters game that was televised nationwide on ESPNU. He also registered his second double-double of the season, grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds and dishing out a game-high 7 assists.
“I wish that it would have came in a ‘W,’ but it didn’t,” he said in a release from the school. “Our program has a lot of tradition. They’ve got players like the Michael Ray Richardsons who came here before me, along with the Wayne Tinkles and the Larry Krystkowiaks. So to come here and to get 1,000, and to be mentioned with those names is an honor.”
Senior point guard Will Cherry started the season with more than 1,000 career points, and is currently ranked seventh in school history with 1,429 career points. With Cherry and Jamar now in the “1,000-point Club” at UM, it marks just the fifth time in Grizzly history that two players who have 1,000 or more career points are playing for the Griz at the same time.
Jamar could finish his career at Montana ranked among the top 10 in career rebounds and career assists. He currently has 461 rebounds and 262 assists, and could potentially become the only player in school history to be ranked among UM’s top 10 in scoring, rebounding, and assists.
Jamar is the only player to have started all 25 games so far this season. He has led the Grizzles in rebounding in 16
games, in assists 12 times, and in scoring, and in scoring seven times. He has scored 20 or more points in four games and had two double-doubles this year.
Joining Cherry and Jamar in this elite group of 1,000-point scorers are the tandems of Jordan Hasquet (1,396) and Matt Martin (1,021) in 2007-08; Matt Kempfert (1,131) and Jeremy Lakes (1,036) in 1994-95; Daren Engellant (1,224) and Roger Fasting (1,047) in 1991-92; and Bob Cope (1,810) and Lou Rocheleau (1,235 points) in 1948-59.
Senior forward Mathias Ward, who did not play in the Davidson game due to an injury, has 933 career points and
he needs 67 more to score 1,000. Montana has never had three 1,000-point scorers playing on the same team together in school history.
Grizzlies’ Cherry a Candidate for Mid-Major’s Top Player Award
The University of Montana’s Will Cherry has been named one of 25 finalists as the top Mid-Major player in the nation.
Cherry, a 6-foot-1 senior point guard from West Oakland, Calif., leads 19-6 Montana in assists (4.4 apg) and steals (1.9 stl. pg); and is second in rebounding (4.4 reb. pg) and third in scoring (13.2 ppg).
He missed UM’s first seven games this season due to an injury, therefore he has not played in enough games to be ranked in the Big Sky Conference’s individual statistics. However, he would be ranked among the league leaders in several categories, and will be after he plays in his 21st game (he’s played in 18 so far) this season. He is the only player from the conference named a finalist for the prestigious award.
Cherry has a school-record 258 career steals, which rank him second in Big Sky history. His 1,429 career points rank him seventh in school history. He’s fourth all-time at UM with 390 career assists.
Cherry was also a finalist for the award last season, and named to the 2012 Lou Henson Mid-Major All-America team. He was also selected to the 10-player All-District VIII basketball team by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association a year ago. Last season he was named the Big Sky’s “Defensive Player of the Year,” and was a unanimous first team all-league pick.
The Lou Henson Award is presented annually to the top Mid-Major player in Division I college basketball. The award is named in honor of Lou Henson who retired after a spectacular coaching career that lasted 41 years. When he left the game in 2005 he was sixth all-time in career Division I wins with 779. He is one of only 12 coaches in the history of the game to take two schools to the Final Four.