MARTIN, Tenn. – For the second time this offseason, University of Tennessee at Martin head coach Jeremy Shulman has scoured the state of California for a NCAA Division I transfer as Vladimer Salaridze is set to join the Skyhawks in 2024-25.
Salaridze has spent the last two seasons at UC Riverside, members of the Big West Conference. He also played his first two years under Shulman at Eastern Florida State College and will be a redshirt senior for UT Martin this upcoming season.
“I’m very excited about welcoming Vladimer to UT Martin,” Shulman said. “He is a multi-positional player who can do so many things on the court. Though a fifth-year senior coming up, he’s only 21 years old and has tons of upside still. He has the opportunity to be a special player here at UT Martin.”
Playing for head coach Mike Magpayo at UC Riverside, Salaridze saw action in 67 games (two starts) in his Highlander career. In that span, he helped the squad to 38 victories (24 in conference play) – including a record-setting 2022-23 campaign where UC Riverside won a school record 22 games and went 14-6 in the Big West standings.
A 6-7, 225-pound forward, Salaridze registered 259 points, 178 rebounds, 30 assists, 12 blocks and 33 steals while averaging 12.7 minutes per game at UC Riverside. He shot 34.7 percent (35-of-101) from beyond the three-point arc and sank 75.5 percent (40-for-53) of his free throw attempts.
Last season, Salaridze scored in double figures five times – including a career-best 17 points (plus a career-best three assists) in just 21 minutes in the Big West Conference tournament against Long Beach State. He also tossed in 14 points (on 7-of-9 shooting) in a season-high 22 minutes Green Bay on Nov. 21 and knocked down a season-best three triples as part of a double-double (11 points, career-high 11 rebounds) in only 18 minutes against Cal State Northridge on Jan. 20. He set a career-high with two steals at nationally ranked North Carolina on Nov. 17, which was one of his three multi-steal performances on the season.
Salaridze produced a pair of double-digit scoring games in 2022-23, capped off with a 16-point effort (including 2-for-2 from three-point land and 6-of-6 from the free throw line) against Cal Baptist on Nov. 30. He was a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range on the way to 12 points against Occidental on Nov. 19 while adding five more multi-steal games on the defensive end.
Hailing from Tbilisi, Georgia, Salaridze was a two-time All-Central Conference selection for Shulman at Eastern Florida State College, cracking the first team in 2021-22 and the second team in 2020-21. He was part of a two-year run where the Titans combined to go 40-14 and 26-5 in league play, capturing a pair of conference championships during that stretch.
Salaridze tallied 384 points, 329 rebounds, 64 assists, 15 blocks and 52 steals in 53 games at EFSC, starting in 19 of those contests. For his career, he averaged 7.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per contest while playing alongside fellow Skyhawk signees Matija Žužic, Andrija Bukumirović and Afan Trnka.
Salaridze scored in double figures nine times in 2021-22, including a season-best 23 points (thanks to a season-high eight free throws) with 14 rebounds at Daytona State College on Feb. 19. That was one of his four double-doubles on the season, each of which included 14 rebounds apiece. His season-high of 15 rebounds came at Florida State College at Jacksonville on Feb. 10 while he distributed five a season-best five assists in the Nov. 3 season opener against Central Pointe. He chipped in seven multi-steal outings (including a season-high four swipes on Jan. 22 against Florida State College at Jacksonville) and three multi-block performances.
As a true freshman, Salaridze reached double digits in the scoring column on five separate occasions. That included season-highs of 15 points and 12 rebounds at St. Petersburg College on Feb. 6 while his second double-double of the season occurred against Florida State College at Jacksonville (14 points, 10 rebounds) on Feb. 20. Defensively, he swiped multiple steals in five contests.
Salaridze prepped at West Seattle High School under head coach Dan Kriley, where he was a standout performer for the Wildcats.
On an international level, Salaridze represented his home nation of Georgia at the 2022 FIBA U20 Championships – averaging 11.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.9 assists over seven games at the prestigious event. Notable games from that tournament included a double-double (19 points, 10 rebounds) against North Macedonia and a 15-rebound performance against Ireland. He also dialed up multi-steal outings in all seven contests in the event.
Salaridze joins Lamine Niang (Cal State Northridge) as NCAA Division I transfers on the Skyhawk roster in 2024-25 as he will be the ninth signee in Shulman’s first class, which additionally includes Stefano Faloppa (Monroe College), Tarence Guinyard (Florida State College at Jacksonville), AJ Hopkins (Florida SouthWestern State College), Trnka (Eastern Florida State College), Bukumirović (Eastern Florida State College) Žužić (Eastern Florida State College) and Josué Grullon (Daytona State College).
