During one season as a Pratt Community College Beaver, Jay Valerius showed flashes of his potential while shaking off two years of rust.
St. Gregory’s University in Shawnee, Okla., saw past the rust, and the 6-7 Topeka native recently signed a letter of intent to continue his career for the Cavaliers.
St. Gregory’s competes in the Sooner Athletic Conference, so Valerius will finish his career in another of the country’s best conferences.
“It’s one of the best NAIA conferences in the country,” PCC coach Trevor Rolfs said of St. Gregory’s. “He’ll have a good two years down there.”
Valerius averaged 6.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game while making 49.3 percent of his field goals last season for the Beavers. He combined with 6-11 center Illiwa Baldwin to form a great inside 1-2 punch for Rolfs and PCC, and now both of the Beavers’ big guys have found homes at the next level.
“Both of them are really great kids. They’re very polite, they’ve been good in the community, good on campus, and it’s obvious that they were major contributors to our team this year,” Rolfs said of the pair. “I’m awful proud of them and both of them are going to great situations to further their education for free.”
