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Former Charles Henderson star Jayden Spearman is in his freshman season at Enterprise State Community College and has quickly become ESCC’s leading scorer on the basketball team.

The former All-State and All-Messenger guard is averaging 16 points on 50 percent shooting in his freshman season at ESCC. He also averages 1.5 steals, 7.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. In ESCC’s Jan 27 game against Bevill State, Spearman tallied 21 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two blocks for his fourth career double-double.

“I feel very good about the way the season has gone,” Spearman said. “We’re maintaining and getting better, that’s the biggest thing.”

Spearman scored a career-high 32 points, eight rebounds and two steals against Albany Tech on Dec. 12 and tallied 23 points, 10 rebounds and three steals on Nov. 30 against Chattahoochee Valley. Spearman said he wasn’t surprised at how quickly he adjusted to the college game.

“Honestly, no I wasn’t surprised really,” he said. “The speed of the game is very different, there are absolutely better players in college and you have to play differently and play to their speed but I knew I could adjust. It’s way different from high school, though.”

His ESCC head coach, Jeremaine Williams was surprised at how quickly he adjusted to college, though.

“I was surprised until I saw him in that first game,” Williams said. “After that, I was like, ‘This kid is the real deal.’ He never backs down from anybody. He had 16 points in that first game. He’s had multiple 25-point games and 30-point games as a freshman.

“He’s averaging nearly a double-double and the last two games he scored 20 points in the first half. He’s killing it right now.”

Some of my mid season highlights
Freshman Year🙏🏽 @DirtySouthJuco @AlabamaJUCO @JUCOadvocate @JucoRecruiting @CoachScottCross pic.twitter.com/eU55qfT8ae

— Jayden Spearman (@JaydenSpearman5) January 30, 2024

Williams called Spearman a joy to coach and said that he sees the sky as the limit for his future.

“I love that kid, honestly. A lot of freshmen are timid playing against a lot of transfers and older guys but Jayden has that ‘Dog’ in him,” Williams emphasized. “He’s fearless and he’s enjoyable to coach. He’s doing stuff as a freshman that a lot of sophomores aren’t able to do at any level.

“A lot of Division I (schools) are calling and asking if he’s a transfer kid or just a freshman. There’s stuff we still have to work on but I think he can play at any level and the sky is the limit for this kid.”

While Spearman wants to eventually get to a four-year college he’s focusing on this season and chasing a ring.

“My goal right now is to get to the (state) tournament with my team and hopefully get us a ring,” he emphatically said. “I just want to keep my grades up and keep doing positive things. We’re really trying to get to this tournament and win a championship, though.”