Grilley to play hoops at Jamestown

By JOE SOVA/Hungry Horse News

Chase Grilley has signed a Dakota Athletic Conference letter of intent to play basketball for Jamestown College in Jamestown, N.D., for the 2008-09 season.

Grilley, a 6-foot guard who has just graduated from Columbia Falls High School, averaged 18 points, six rebounds and nearly five assists per game as a Wildcat senior under head coach Cary Finberg. He led the Cats in scoring and rebounding. The year before, Grilley averaged 14 points, three rebounds and three assists a game.

He was named to the first-team All-Conference team his junior and seniors seasons and was a first-team All-State selection for the 2007-08 season. Grilley was named team most valuable player for four straight seasons.

Jeff Trumbauer, who will enter his fifth year as men's head coach at Jamestown College, liked what he saw from Grilley on the court during his senior season.

"He's a very good kid. He has great work ethic and a strong character," Trumbauer said last Friday. "He's very complete. He's very much a team player and capable of contributing in a number of ways."

Trumbauer is impressed with how well Grilley sees the court.

"He's putting the ball in the right hands at the right time," the Jimmies coach said.

Grilley is one of a number of Trumbauer's recruits, since the Jimmies are losing seven seniors from a team that won the Dakota Athletic Conference title, earned a berth in the NAIA Tournament and compiled a 23-9 overall record.

"So we're reloading a little bit," he said. "I feel pretty good about the recruiting class. We've done a good job of replacing the talent we've had over the last few years."

How soon Grilley will get playing time for the Jimmies depends on his adjustment to the next level of basketball.

"Transition from high school to college is a difficult one," Trumbauer said. "You need to adjust to the speed and physicality of the game, and maybe even more so to learning our system."

The Jamestown College coach said that Grilley will be a perimeter player for the Jimmies.

"They seemed to be pretty darn good," Grilley said of the Jimmies on Friday. "They have a pretty good program. A lot of playing time is a possibility."

The son of Bill and Mary Grilley, he was named to the Academic All-State team in his junior and senior years. He said he will be a pharmacy major at Jamestown College.