Grand Canyon basketball gains transfer Traivar Jackson from Tarleton State

Traivar Jackson, who emerged in the WAC Tournament last season for Tarleton State, has signed with Grand Canyon.

This will be the former Pima Community College 6-foot-6 forward’s final college basketball season.

“From the one week I’ve been here, I’ve loved it from the teammates to the lifts, also skill workouts and even the food we get afterwards,” Jackson said in a text. “This program gets treated like real pros almost and they deserve it from what they’ve done.”

GCU has reached the NCAA Tournament in three of the four years coach Bryce Drew last led the program. Last season the Lopes won their first NCAA Tournament game, upsetting Saint Mary’s College in the first round of the West Regional.

Jackson, who is from Anchorage, Alaska, averaged 18.9 points and was twice a National Junior College All-American, before transferring to Tarleton State last year.

His role improved late last season when he had three straight double-figures scoring games in the WAC Tournament in Las Vegas.

Counting the CollegeInsider.com Tournament and the conference tournament, he had three straight games scoring in double figure, averaging 10.2 points, three rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 18.4 minutes, while making 73% of his shots from the field.

Tarleton State lost in the WAC Tournament semifinals.

“I wanted to come here to get better first of all, and get new vibes like teammates and new location, coaches and all,” Jackson said. “I feel I fit in pretty good, because this team and program loves to work hard and I feel I do that and can be a part of something great this year.”

He played in all 32 games last season for Tarleton, scoring a total of 129 points, pulling down 79 rebounds and blocking 23 shots. He shot 58% from the field. He ranked among the top 20 in the WAC in blocked shots and field-goal shooting percentage (for those with at least 100 attempts).

Last week, the Lopes got news that WAC Player of the Year Tyon Grant-Foster, 20 points a game during a 30-win, NCAA Tournament season, was returning after pulling out of the NBA draft.

Along with 6-foot-7 Grant-Foster, the Lopes return starters Collin Moore, Ray Harrison and Duke Brennan. They also return sixth-man Lok Wur, a 6-9 forward who came on the second half of last season.

Besides Jackson coming in from portal, the Lopes also signed 6-2 guard Makaih Williams, who was the WAC Freshman of the Year out of UT Arlington last year.

GCU also brings in 6-8 forward JaKobe Coles (TCU) and 7-1 center Dennis Evans (Louisville).

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Grand Canyon basketball gains transfer from Tarleton State