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ULM Basketball Adds Three Versatile Guards to 2022-23 Roster

ULM Basketball Adds Three Versatile Guards to 2022-23 Roster

Men's Basketball Jun 05
MONROE, La. – ULM head basketball coach Keith Richard announced on Saturday, June 4 the addition of three backcourt players to the 2022-23 roster, with the signings of 6-foot-1, 205-pound guard Jamari Blackmon, a transfer from North Alabama; 6-4, 185-pound guard Savion Gallion, a transfer from South Plains College in Levelland, Texas; and 6-3, 190-pound guard Devon Hancock, a transfer from Milwaukee.
 
"These three guards add versatility to our roster because they each can play multiple positions as well as score in a variety of ways," Richard said. "Jamari Blackmon is an experienced player, with more than 100 career starts under his belt, who also scored more than 1,300 points at UNA. Savion Gallion emerged as the second-leading scorer on an extremely talented South Plains College team and displayed the ability to do the little things to help his team win games. Devon Hancock has a tremendous upside as a player and his strength is shooting the basketball.
 
"I'm really excited about the recruiting class that we're putting together, especially in terms of adding more scoring options to the playing rotation."
 
Blackmon, who has one year of eligibility remaining, ranks as the sixth all-time leading scorer in UNA history with 1,346 points after starting 111 of 113 career games from 2018-22. He reached double-figures in 68 career games, including 14 20-point efforts. Blackmon has posted three of UNA's top seven individual scoring performances since the Lions transitioned to NCAA Division I prior to the 2018-19 season. His four-year career totals also included 213 3-pointers, 288 assists and 135 steals.
 
As a senior in 2021-22, Blackmon ranked as UNA's third-leading scorer at 9.8 points per game while starting 26 of 27 contests. He produced double figures in 11 games, including a pair of 20-point outings. Blackmon scored a season-high 24 points against Stetson while hitting 9-of-12 field-goal attempts, including 4-of-5 3-pointers. He connected on 7-of-12 shots from the floor at Lipscomb, including 6-of-10 from behind the 3-point arc, and finished with 22 points. Blackmon collected a season-high seven rebounds in the second meeting against Lipscomb and recorded a season-best four steals against Alabama A&M and a season-high six assists at Alabama State.
 
As a junior in 2020-21, he started all 24 games, led the Lions in assists with 53 and finished as the team's second-leading scorer, averaging 10.1 points per game. Blackmon posted double figures in scoring 13 times, including two 20-point games. He netted a season-high 21 points in the second game of the road swing at Kennesaw State while hitting 8-of-16 shots from the field. Blackmon made 6-of-10 3-point field-goal attempts and finished with a game-high 20 points in the second game of a home series against Stetson. He collected a season-best six assists in UNA's ASUN Tournament semifinal victory over FGCU.
 
As a sophomore in 2019-20, Blackmon started all 30 contests and ranked as UNA's second-leading scorer at 12.4 points per game. He produced double figures 17 times, including a career-best six 20-point games. Blackmon closed out the season with back-to-back 22-point performances on the road at FGCU (7-of-14 FG shooting) and at Stetson (8-of-14 FG shooting including 5-of-8 3-pointers). He hit 9-of-15 field-goal attempts at Jacksonville, including 5-of-8 3s, and 4-of-4 free-throw attempts for a career-best 27 points – the highest single-game scoring total since UNA moved to NCAA Division I. Blackmon netted a game-high 21 points at NJIT, connecting of 5-of-11 shots from the floor, including 3-of-5 3-pointers, and 8-of-9 from the free-throw line. He scored 26 points each in consecutive road games at South Dakota State (9-of-17 FG shooting including 4-of-8 3s) and at Louisiana Tech (9-of-11 FG shooting including 5-of-6 3s). Blackmon recorded a career-high nine assists in the 2019-20 home opener against Carver.
 
He earned ASUN Freshman of the Year honors in 2018-19 after leading UNA in scoring (14.6 ppg.), assists (87) and steals (56). His scoring average ranked seventh overall in the ASUN. Blackmon, who was the only unanimous selection on the ASUN All-Freshman Team, started 31 of 32 games and reached double figures 27 times, including four 20-point efforts. He went 5-of-11 from the field and a perfect 10-for-10 from the free-throw line for 22 points in the home finale against Lipscomb. Blackmon scored a season-high 23 points at Jacksonville (8-of-17 FG shooting including 4-of-8 3-pointers). He netted a team-high 22 points against Jacksonville State, with 14 of those points coming from the charity stripe (14-of-15 FT shooting). Blackmon contributed 13 points and a season-high seven assists at Pittsburgh. He posted double figures in 11 consecutive games to open the 2018-19 season, including 22 points in his home debut against Blue Mountain College.
 
Blackmon scored more than 1,500 career points for Coach Charles Burkett at Hoover (Alabama) High School while helping lead the Bucs to back-to-back area championships and Class 7A Elite 8 appearances in 2017 and 2018. He was selected Birmingham Tip-Off Club Co-Player of the Year and named as a finalist for Alabama Mr. Basketball after averaging 25.4 points, five rebounds and four assists per game as a senior in 2017-18. As a junior, he was named to the 2016 Class 7A All-Tournament Team.
 
Gallion, who has two years of eligibility remaining, averaged 9.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game in 2021-22 for Coach Steve Green at South Plains College, helping the Texans to a 21-12 overall record, including the Region V Championship and a trip to the NJCAA Tournament Sweet 16. He appeared in 32 games, including 12 starts, and ranked second on the team in scoring average, 3-point field goals made (50), 3-point field-goal percentage (.368) and steals (25). Gallion upped his scoring average to 10.3 points in Western Junior College Athletic Conference games. He posted double figures in scoring 18 times, including three 20-point games. Gallion made at least one 3-pointer in 26 contests, including a streak of 12 consecutive games during one stretch.
 
He netted 20 points against Frank Phillips (3-of-5 3-pointers). Gallion hit 8-of-16 field-goal attempts en route to a season-best 22 points against Snow in the Fiesta Bowl Junior College Shootout. He came off the bench to score a game-high 21 points against Dallas-North Lake. Gallion scored in double figures in five consecutive games during one mid-season stretch. He recorded five assists each against Monroe, at Clarendon and against Midland. Gallion collected five steals in his Texan debut against Northern Oklahoma-Enid.
 
A native of Washington, D.C., Gallion began his collegiate career at the University of Buffalo where he earned two letters after appearing in 29 games over two seasons (2019-21).
 
He previously averaged 13.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game in one season at Mt. Zion Prep in Baltimore, Maryland.
 
A three-year letterman at Thurgood Marshall High School, Gallion averaged 22.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game as a senior. A Washington Post All-Met honorable mention selection in 2017-18, he was listed among the area leaders in scoring average (10th) and 3-point field goals made (seventh with 78). Gallion scored 20 or more points in 21 games as a senior, including eight 30-point performances, and recorded four double-doubles (points and rebounds). He turned in one of his top all-around games against DuVal, finishing with a career-best 35 points (4 made 3-pointers; 19-of-21 FT shooting), 10 rebounds and six assists. Gallion netted 20-plus points in six-straight games during one stretch (27.7 ppg.). He closed out his career at Thurgood Marshall with 1,163 career points, including 26 20-point games.
 
Hancock, who has three years of eligibility remaining, saw action in 46 games for Milwaukee over the last two seasons (2020-22) and averaged 3.2 points and 1.1 rebounds per game.
 
As a red-shirt freshman in 2021-22, he appeared in 27 contests, including starting assignments in six of the last seven games, and averaged 3.4 points and 1.2 rebounds per game while hitting nearly 38 percent (22-of-58) of his 3-point field-goal attempts. Hancock, who scored in 17 games, came off the bench against Saint Xavier (Chicago) to hit 6-of-11 3-pointers for a career-high18 points in 27 minutes. He played more than 20 minutes in three games. Hancock contributed seven points (3-of-5 FG shooting) while setting career highs for assists (3) and minutes played (31) at IUPUI. Hancock went 3-for-3 from 3-point range and added nine points against Detroit Mercy. He buried at least one 3 in 10 of his last 12 games.
 
As a first-year player in 2020-21, he came off the bench in 19 games and averaged 2.9 points and 1.1 rebounds in 10.1 minutes. Hancock played 15 or more minutes in six games. He scored in 12 games, including a season-high eight points each against Purdue Fort Wayne (Game 1) and at IUPUI (Game 2). Hancock added four points and a career-best five rebounds while playing a season-high 20 minutes in the first game of the home series against IUPUI. He made at least one 3-pointer in seven consecutive early season games.
 
A Dallas native, Hancock earned first-team all-district honors after averaging 14.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game as a senior for Horn High School in Mesquite, Texas. He made a team-high 83 3-pointers while helping the Jaguars to their first-ever outright District 11-6A Championship.  
 
ULM's 2022 recruiting class now features seven newcomers as Blackmon, Gallion and Hancock join 6-5 guard Jalen Bolden, from Zachary (Louisiana) High School; 6-0 guard Tyreke Locure, a transfer from UAB; 6-10 forward AD Diedhiou (pronounced DEE-juu; juu rhymes with who), another transfer from UAB; and 6-10 center Victor Bafutto, a transfer from Mercer.
 
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