Jalun Trent’s development as a basketball player commenced on ultra-competitive courts in the city of Baltimore, long a hoops haven for those enamored with the game.

He then landed outside Philadelphia for middle school and high school, but didn’t earn college recruiting interest after sparking Upper Darby to the state tournament.

A high school coach who felt Trent had collegiate potential steered him to Cochise College, a two-year school in far-off Sierra Vista, Arizona. There, he improved and impressed enough to earn NCAA Division I interest, landing a scholarship to the University of North Dakota.

After one year as a starter there in 2022-23, Trent’s wish to get closer to home has, via the transfer portal, put him at the University of Delaware. His continued evolution has been a boon to the Blue Hens, with whom he is the starting point guard and has twice been Coastal Athletic Association player of the week.

“The Xavier game was the one where he really caught on,” Delaware coach Martin Ingelsby said of an 87-80 win on Dec. 5, UD’s first over a Big East team.

“He was the best player on the floor.”

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A product of his roots

Growing up in Baltimore, Trent found a basketball game wherever he could. Local recreational center, YMCA and playground courts were his frequent destinations. He found others who shared his passion for playing hoops.

“It’s tough, gritty,” he said. “The atmosphere is a lot of great people who love the game. It made me tougher.”

Trent’s parents were divorced and he moved to the western edge of Philadelphia to live with his father beginning in middle school. His competitive instincts flourished there as well.

“I definitely learned a lot,” he said. “It made me see what I wanted to do in life.”

That was play basketball professionally someday, which seemed a long shot then.

JUCO path is productive

“I had no offers,” Trent said, referring to scholarships coming out of high school.

Junior college was the way to go and it turned out to be the perfect step to attend Conchise, located near Arizona’s border with Mexico.

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“I played the best of my whole life,” he said. “I saw a different culture, met a lot of people who cared about me and my game. It was a wonderful experience.”

Trent showed his all-around skills, averaging 9.4 points, 8.0 assists and 7.2 rebounds per game at Cochise, which won a pair of Arizona Community College championships. Trent was first-team all-conference and all-region as a sophomore while also being league and regional Defensive Player of the Year.

In addition to North Dakota, Cal Poly, Cal State Bakersfield and California Baptist were among schools that showed interest.

Continued success at North Dakota

In 2022, Trent’s travels continued as he landed in another distant location, in Grand Forks, North Dakota, near the Minnesota border.

He started 30 games for the 13-20 Fighting Hawks, which he led with 79 assists while averaging 6.4 points and 4.2 rebounds per game and making 22 steals and blocking 10 shots. He had a double-double, 12 points and 13 boards, in a 76-73 overtime win against Omaha, one of four straight February games in which Trent scored in double digits

“I got to show what Jalun Trent can do,” he said. “It was about getting my name out there a little bit more.”

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North Dakota certainly hoped he’d stay, but Trent, who’d been far from home his entire collegiate life, wanted to get back East. Towson and New Hampshire were other schools besides Delaware he considered.

“Once I got on the phone with Ingelsby,” Trent said, “he was real cool, real relaxed, wasn’t pressing me ‘Oh you need to come here and do this’ . . . I was like ‘OK, this is the one.’ ”

Despite the considerable attention Delaware’s coaching staff pays to nearby Philly high school hoops, Trent “was never on our radar. We never heard of him,” Ingelsby said.

But as Delaware perused the transfer portal after last year’s standout point guard Jameer Nelson also entered it (landing at TCU), Trent was noticeable. At 6-foot-3½, he’s bigger than most previous UD point guards.

“You're just making calls and asking questions and trying to find out information about some guys and we got glowing reports,” Ingelsby said.

Delaware dynamo

Coaches at Conshise and North Dakota raved about Trent, one telling Delaware he could have double-digit assists on a team with strong offensive players. That was music to the ears of Ingelsby, a former pass-first point guard himself at Notre Dame who knew Delaware had several scoring threats, led by Jyare Davis.

Trent has since “been a key guy for us from day one,” Ingelsby said. His length has made him a defensive nuisance as well as a player who can flourish near the basket. In that win at Xavier, Trent scored 27 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dealt six assists with just one turnover.

Against Princeton Dec. 30, Trent had 16 points and 11 assists. It was Delaware’s first double-double in those categories since Jarvis Threatt’s 13 points and 13 assists at Charleston on March 1, 2014. But it did little to thrill Trent simply because Delaware lost 84-82.

Trent’s 3.9 assists per game are currently tied for fourth in the CAA. His 11.3 points per game are third among Blue Hens and feature a 50.8 field-goal percentage. His 4.1 rebounds per game rank fourth for Delaware.

Delaware (9-6) is 1-1 in CAA games, whipping Hampton 80-53 and falling at Hofstra 76-71 last week. The Hens head south to play at Campbell Thursday night and UNCW on Sunday, a 4 p.m. tip airing nationally on the CBS Sports Network.

“I feel like this is the year where I show all my work I put in for the past couple years, all the sacrifices I put in,” said Trent, who is in his final season of eligibility while pursuing a degree in communications. “This is the year to really truly show what Jalun Trent is all about, what he can do.”

Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com and our DE Game Day newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Jalun Trent buoys Delaware Blue Hens basketball after transfer