BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – The Ohio Valley Conference unveiled its “Players to Watch” for the 2024-25 men’s basketball season today as University of Tennessee at Martin newcomers Josué Grullon and Vladimer Salaridze were featured on the exclusive list.
A 6-5, 195-pound junior guard, Grullon was a NJCAA second team All-American last season at Daytona State College, winning his second straight Citrus Conference championship en route to a NJCAA Tournament appearance. He tossed in 20.6 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals over 32 games in 2023-24, knocking down 113 three-pointers in the process. The Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic native went off for at least 25 points eight times last season, including a career-best 41-point outburst (on 16-of-21 shooting, including nine treys) at Indian River State College on Feb. 7 and a 39-point effort (including eight trifectas) against Eastern Florida State College on Jan. 20. He recorded one triple-double and six double-doubles in 2023-24, earning the second all-conference accolade in as many years.
Grullon poured in 1,112 points in his two-year career at Daytona State College and was rated as the No. 27 junior college product in the nation by JUCORecruiting.com. He also owns extensive international experience, representing the Dominican Republic in the prestigious CentroBasket U15 event held in Puerto Rico in August 2016.
Salaridze spent the past two seasons at UC Riverside, seeing playing time in 67 games. The 6-7, 230-pound forward helped the Highlanders win a school-record 22 games in 2022-23, going 14-6 in the Big West Conference standings. Last season, he scored a career-best 17 points in only 21 minutes against Long Beach State in the Big West Conference Championship tournament.
A redshirt senior at UT Martin, Salaridze was a two-time all-conference performer under current Skyhawk head coach Jeremy Shulman at Eastern Florida State College from 2020-22. Salaridze helped the Titans claim a pair of conference championships and go 26-5 against league foes over that stretch. He grabbed five of his seven double-doubles during his sophomore campaign, including a career-best 23 points and 14 rebounds at Daytona State College on Feb. 19, 2022.
Salaridze also boasts experience on the international level, representing Georgia at the 2022 FIBA U20 Championships. He averaged 11.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.9 assists over seven games at the event, which was held in his hometown of Tbilisi, Georgia.
Grullon and Salaridze are two of 16 newcomers on the 2024-25 UT Martin roster as the Skyhawks open the Shulman Era on Monday, Nov. 4 at Illinois State.
