The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

LJ Rose had a debut to remember and made an immediate impact on his new club.

Rose finished with 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in an 84-76 win for BC Valga-Valka over Latvijas Universitate in the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League.

Rose’s last professional action was in his second stint in the National Basketball Association’s G-League with the Salt Lake City Stars, the G-League affiliate of the Utah Jazz.

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 initially waived.

He then 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.

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.

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.