MBB Adds WVU Transfer Bridges
5/3/2022 10:33:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Forward has started all 36 Big 12 games over the last two seasons for the Mountaineers
WACO, Texas – Baylor men's basketball has signed transfer forward Jalen Bridges to a Financial Aid Contract, head coach Scott Drew announced Tuesday.
Bridges, a 6-foot-7, 220-pound forward brings the experience of 61 games and 52 starts over the last two seasons for the West Virginia Mountaineers, where he averaged 7.3 points and 4.2 rebounds while shooting 45% from the floor.
"Jalen Bridges has proven himself as a two-year starter in the Big 12," head coach Scott Drew said. "He was among the Big 12 leaders in 3-point field goal percentage his freshman year and is someone with the size, length and athleticism and skillset that fits really well within our program, and we can't wait to have him in Waco."
Bridges burst onto the scene with the Mountaineers as a freshman in 2020-21, earning a spot on the Big 12 All-Freshman team averaging 5.9 points and 3.6 rebounds. He finished the season shooting 49.6 percent from the field and 40.9 percent from three-point range, both of which would have put him among the top-5 in the Big 12 in both categories if he had enough 3-point makes to qualify.
In his first career start, the Fairmont, W.Va native had 19 points at Oklahoma, becoming the first Mountaineer freshman to score 19 or more points on at least 5-of-6 shooting from 3-point range. One of his six double-figure scoring performances was highlighted by a career-high 22 points against TCU. Bridges helped WVU to a 19-10 record and the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In his first career NCAA Tournament game, the redshirt freshman dropped 15 points in a Mountaineer win over Morehead State.
As a sophomore, Bridges was the only player to start all 33 games for the Mountaineers and finished second on the team in rebounds per game (4.6) and fourth in points per game (8.4). He notched 11 double-figure scoring games, tying a career-high with 22 points against Oklahoma State, and followed that up with a double-double against Kansas (12 points and 11 rebounds). Bridges improved his free throw percentage from .714 in 2020-21 to .823 in 2021-22, including a stretch of 26-straight makes over eight Big 12 games.
Before his time with WVU, Bridges led Fairmont Senior High School to four-straight state championship games, winning two. With the Polar Bears, he averaged 16.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.2 blocks and 1.9 steals per game and was named captain of the Class AA Boys All-State Basketball First Team by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association. In 2019, Bridges won the Bill Evans Award, given annually to the state player of the year in West Virginia.
Bridges is the second transfer to sign with the Bears this week, after BYU transfer Caleb Lohner signed a financial aid contract on Monday.
Follow @BaylorMBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for additional updates.
Bridges, a 6-foot-7, 220-pound forward brings the experience of 61 games and 52 starts over the last two seasons for the West Virginia Mountaineers, where he averaged 7.3 points and 4.2 rebounds while shooting 45% from the floor.
"Jalen Bridges has proven himself as a two-year starter in the Big 12," head coach Scott Drew said. "He was among the Big 12 leaders in 3-point field goal percentage his freshman year and is someone with the size, length and athleticism and skillset that fits really well within our program, and we can't wait to have him in Waco."
Bridges burst onto the scene with the Mountaineers as a freshman in 2020-21, earning a spot on the Big 12 All-Freshman team averaging 5.9 points and 3.6 rebounds. He finished the season shooting 49.6 percent from the field and 40.9 percent from three-point range, both of which would have put him among the top-5 in the Big 12 in both categories if he had enough 3-point makes to qualify.
In his first career start, the Fairmont, W.Va native had 19 points at Oklahoma, becoming the first Mountaineer freshman to score 19 or more points on at least 5-of-6 shooting from 3-point range. One of his six double-figure scoring performances was highlighted by a career-high 22 points against TCU. Bridges helped WVU to a 19-10 record and the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In his first career NCAA Tournament game, the redshirt freshman dropped 15 points in a Mountaineer win over Morehead State.
As a sophomore, Bridges was the only player to start all 33 games for the Mountaineers and finished second on the team in rebounds per game (4.6) and fourth in points per game (8.4). He notched 11 double-figure scoring games, tying a career-high with 22 points against Oklahoma State, and followed that up with a double-double against Kansas (12 points and 11 rebounds). Bridges improved his free throw percentage from .714 in 2020-21 to .823 in 2021-22, including a stretch of 26-straight makes over eight Big 12 games.
Before his time with WVU, Bridges led Fairmont Senior High School to four-straight state championship games, winning two. With the Polar Bears, he averaged 16.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.2 blocks and 1.9 steals per game and was named captain of the Class AA Boys All-State Basketball First Team by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association. In 2019, Bridges won the Bill Evans Award, given annually to the state player of the year in West Virginia.
Bridges is the second transfer to sign with the Bears this week, after BYU transfer Caleb Lohner signed a financial aid contract on Monday.
Follow @BaylorMBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for additional updates.
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