The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN national team guard LJ Rose will return for a second stint in the National Basketball Association’s G-League.

The Salt Lake City Stars, the G-League affiliate of the Utah Jazz, reacquired Rose yesterday as the team prepares for the second half of the season.

Rose began the season with the Stars, but appeared in just two games and averaged 2.5 points and two assists in eight minutes of play before he was waived on November 30.

He most recently appeared as the starting point guard for the Bahamas’ national team which participated in the first series of the FIBA World Cup 2019 Qualifiers for the Americas region.

Despite the Bahamas’ 0-2 finish, Rose was a bright spot for the team with the numbers he posted, averaging 8.5 points, nine assists and six rebounds per game.

He opened with eight points, eight assists and seven rebounds in the 93-69 loss on the road to Canada. In the 93-85 loss to the US Virgin Islands at home, Rose finished with nine points, 10 assists and five rebounds.

The Stars waived Jermaine Taylor to make roster room to sign Rose, the 6’3”, 200-pound point guard. Taylor appeared in 19 games (four starts) for the Stars this season. He averaged 12.6 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 25.4 minutes of action.

The Stars have struggled this season at just 4-22 in the standings and last place in the Western Conference.

Rose completed an injury-shortened final collegiate season, with the BYU Cougars before shifted his sights to the professional ranks. He moved from one “Cougar” programme to another for the third stop of his NCAA basketball career when he transferred as a post-graduate from the University of Houston to BYU.

He started 25 games in his lone season with BYU and led the team with 4.5 assists per game to go along with 5.5 points and 4.6 rebounds. His season was cut short when he had surgery in February 2017 to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee.

Although he played sparingly as a senior in his final season in Houston, as a junior Rose averaged 9.8 points and 5.3 assists in a starting role when relatively healthy. In that season he became the 17th player in Houston history to register multiple seasons with at least 100 assists, dishing out 101 in 19 games.

He was named to the Las Vegas Class All-tournament team that season, and was an American Athletic Conference honour roll nominee in February 2013.

In his sophomore year, and first with the Houston programme, he averaged 8.9 points and 5.5 assists per game.

In his first national team appearance, Rose was the starting point guard for the Bahamas when they won gold at the 2014 Caribbean Basketball Confederation Championships. However, he suffered an injury in the opening game of the tournament and was relegated to the sidelines.

Rose was the ninth-ranked point guard in the class of 2012 by ESPN.com coming out of Westbury Christian Academy. He chose Baylor over Arizona, Memphis and Georgetown.

In his freshman season with the Bears, he posted 0.9 points and 1.2 assists, in sparse playing time, prompting his transfer to Houston the following year where he gave the Cougars a strong Bahamian connection on the court with Rose, Mikhail McLean and Danrad Knowles.

Rose is the son of Lynden Sr and Marilyn Rose and comes from a strong basketball bloodline following the success of his father and his uncle, the late Cecil Rose.