On Friday, Troy native Jayden Spearman confirmed to The Messenger that he has transferred to Lincoln Memorial University to continue his basketball career. 

Spearman was an All-State and All-Messenger guard during his time at Charles Henderson High School, along with earning the Class 5A Student Athlete Achievement Award. As a senior, Spearman averaged 19.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game as he helped lead CHHS to a Class 5A State Runner-Up finish.

Spearman started his college career at Enterprise State Community College, earning All-Conference honors after averaging 17.7 points on 52.2 percent shooting as a freshman. He also averaged 8.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game.

Spearman transferred to New Mexico Junior College for his sophomore campaign. Spearman was rated as one of the Top 100 junior college (JUCO) players in the country and averaged 10.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 0.6 steals per game in 31 games this season.

“At New Mexico it was the best experience of my life,” Spearman said. “It changed me as a man and it helped me grow towards faith and helped me realize that there are people out there that really care for you. It also helped me become a better basketball player and student-ahtlete.” 

Spearman signed with Lincoln Memorial University over offers from schools like Troy, Radford and New Orleans. 

“I feel like the program was really good,” Spearman said of Lincoln. “I went on a visit and everything went well on the visit and I feel like the coach is going to push me to my full potential. I’m down here right now for summer workouts and we’ve been working out and getting ready for a good upcoming year.” 

Lincoln, a Tennessee-based Division II program, also had a connection to Spearman’s hometown of Troy as Charles Henderson Principal Lise Fayson is a Lincoln graduate. The 6-foot-4-inch Spearman, who is entering his junior season, is already thinking about what he wants to get better at.

“I just want to work on my ability to keep knocking down shots, my ability to make the right reads and give it my all when I’m on the court all of the time on both ends of the court,” he emphasized. “I just want to become the best version of myself and find myself and play basketball at a good, high level and keep moving forward and see where my career can take me.”