NCAA Basketball: 10 best players from state of Montana of last decade

7. Jared Samuelson – Montana

Samuelson is one of those interesting players who had two separate stints at the same school. A 6’7 forward from Billings, he originally committed to Montana and played for them during his redshirt freshman season. Samuelson then starred at Rocky Mountain College at the NAIA level for a pair of seasons before returning to Montana for his final season of eligibility.

He was a fantastic piece in the NAIA, but we’ll focus on just his efforts with the Grizzlies. That freshman season saw him get limited opportunities, averaging 5.1 points per game in just over 11 minutes per game, though he did have a 20-point effort late in the year. Upon his return, Samuelson worked his way into a consistent starter, averaging 8.2 points per game for the Grizzlies. He had some of his best performances late in the year, putting up 23 points in a win over Idaho, but the pandemic cut his final season short.

In those seasons at Montana, Samuelson showed some signs of brilliance, hitting just over 58% of his 2-point field goals across those two years. He was more like a role player on a couple of decent Montana teams, while getting his chance to shine at the lower levels in between. Still, Samuelson was a decent piece, and was the 3rd leading scorer as a senior on a Montana squad that won 18 games.