CHICAGO – Head men's basketball coach Drew Valentine has announced the signing of an additional transfer to the 2024-25 roster. Jalen DeLoach will join the team as a senior following a year at Georgia and two at VCU.
 
He is the second transfer to sign with the Ramblers this spring and joins a four-member freshmen class.
 
"JJ is a relentless competitor! We've built our championship culture with young men that are both skilled and tough and that's exactly who he is," said head coach Drew Valentine. "He's won and excelled individually in the A-10 and we see him having an immediate TWO-WAY impact on the floor! JJ comes from an incredible athletic family, and we can't wait to get him to campus!"
 
While at VCU, DeLoach earned third team All-Atlantic 10 honors in 2022-23, helping the Rams post a 27-8 overall record and a sweep of the regular season and tournament titles. He contributed 9.7 points per game, while grabbing a team-best 6.9 rebounds and 1.14 blocks per game. He ranked in the top-10 on the A-10 leaderboards in both rebounds and blocks.
 
DeLoach helped the Rams to an NIT bid as a freshman. He logged minutes in 31 games that season, averaging 4.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. He led the team shooting 58.6 percent from the floor.
 
The Savannah, Georgia native played last season at Georgia where he appeared in 32 games and made six starts. He returned to his home state where he played for Berkmar High School as a senior in 2019-20. He was named an All-State Class 7A honorable mention.