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Saint Louis men’s basketball head coach Travis Ford announced today at Ingvi Gudmundsson (Grindavik, Iceland) and Demarius Jacobs (Chicago, Ill.) have joined the program. They begin their four years of eligibility in the 2018-19 academic year.
This brings SLU’s incoming freshman class to five players. Gudmundsson and Jacobs join Carte’Are Gordon (St. Louis, Mo.), Mickey Pearson (Elizabethtown, Ky.) and Fred Thatch (Sikeston, Mo.), who signed National Letters of Intent earlier this year.
Gudmundsson (name pronounced Ing-v GOOD-mund-son) is coming off a solid season with the Grindavik basketball club, which plays in the Icelandic Domino’s League, the top league in Iceland. The guard played in all 25 games and averaged 10.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg and 3.5 apg. Gudmundsson shot 51.6 percent (47-91) from the field and 80 percent (32-40) from the free-throw line.
As a member of Iceland’s U18 and U20 National Teams, Gudmundsson has played in FIBA international competitions in Macedonia and Greece. Last summer, he averaged 5.4 ppg for Iceland in the 2017 FIBA U20 European Championship.
Gudmundsson’s brother, Jon Axel, just completed his second season at Davidson.
“Ingvi is a player who can really shoot it and stretch the defense,” Ford said. “He has good ball-handling skills and a great understanding of the game.”
Jacobs played at Uplift High School in Chicago before attending Hillcrest Prep in Phoenix for one season.
With Uplift High School, Jacobs averaged 19.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg and 4.9 apg as a senior. The guard was also effective on the defensive end, recording 3.4 bpg and 2.7 spg. Jacobs helped Uplift to three state tournament appearances during his high school career, including a state championship his sophomore season in 2015.
At Hillcrest Prep this past year, Jacobs pumped in 13.3 ppg by shooting 51 percent from the field, 43 percent from the arc and 87 percent from the line.
“Demarius is a very athletic player who can create his own shot,” Ford said. “He can also use his length to be a good defender.”
