MARTIN, Tenn. – Josué Grullon has signed with the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball program, first-year Skyhawk head coach Jeremy Shulman announced.
Grullon is a 6-4, 195-pound guard out of Daytona State College in Florida who was a NJCAA second team All-American last season. He is currently rated as the No. 27 ranked junior college product in the country by JUCORecruiting.com and will have two seasons of eligibility remaining at UT Martin.
“We are head over heels for the addition of Josué,” said Shulman, who was selected as the 13th head coach in Skyhawk men’s basketball history on March 27. “He is one of the top junior college players in the country and could have played at his choice of Power 6 conference schools but he loved our culture, our family, our atmosphere and our style of play. I know Josué will be a perfect fit here at UT Martin.”
Grullon has spent the last two seasons at Daytona State College under head coach Joey Cantens. Competing in the same conference as Shulman’s previous school (Eastern Florida State College), the Falcons went 55-8 with a 28-3 league mark in Grullon’s junior college tenure, winning back-to-back league championships. Daytona State also made a NJCAA Tournament appearance last season and was consistently ranked in the top-five in the NJCAA poll.
A Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic native, Grullon scored 1,112 points in 63 career games as a Falcon. He canned 203 three-pointers while shooting 82.6 percent (133-of-161) from the free throw line while averaging 4.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.2 steals per outing.
Last season, Grullon tossed in 20.6 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 assists over 32 games. He knocked down 113 three-pointers (3.5 per contest) and scored 658 points on the way to his second of two All-Citrus Conference first team selections.
Grullon pieced together eight games of at least 25 points last season with three outbursts of at least 30 points. That includes a career-best 41 points (on a remarkable 16-of-21 shooting, including 9-of-14 from three-point range) at Indian River State College on Feb. 7 and a 39-point effort (including eight 3-pointers) against Eastern Florida State College on Jan. 20. He canned at least five trifectas on nine separate occasions and showed the ability to get to the foul line, making a season-best seven free throws in three different contests.
Grullon was responsible for one triple-double and six other double-doubles in 2023-24, three of which included 15-plus rebounds. He had a 27-point, career-best 18-rebound and career-high 11-assist performance against Rising Stars Academy on Dec. 30 while also boasting a monster game (22 points, 17 rebounds) one week later against Indian River State College. Overall, he dished out at least five assists in seven different games as a sophomore. He added 14 multi-steal games (including four steals on three separate occasions) to cap off his stellar 2023-24 campaign.
Teammates with former Skyhawk and 2023-24 All-Ohio Valley Conference first teamer Jacob Crews as a freshman, Grullon tossed in 14.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.0 steal per contest. He sank 90 three-pointers and shot a blazing 87.1 percent (54-for-62) from the free throw line in 31 games played.
Grullon went off for at least 20 points in seven games in 2022-23, including a season-high 29 points on 10-for-16 shooting against Indian River State College on Nov. 16. That outing was part of a four-game stretch where he also added 27 points (with a season-high six 3-pointers) at Miami Dade College and 26 points (with five triples) against South Georgia Technical College. He swished at least four 3-pointers on a dozen different occasions, equaling a season-best six trifectas against DME Academy (Nov. 23) and St. Petersburg College (Feb. 11).
Grullon had one double-double as a collegiate rookie, securing 10 points and 10 rebounds against Polk State College on Jan. 28. He recorded nine multi-steal outings with a season-high of four swipes at Eastern Florida State College on Feb. 1.
Grullon originally committed to play at Iona under then-head coach Rick Pitino out of Miami Prep as he was the team’s leading scorer at 24.3 points per game. He sank 164 three-pointers while shooting 57 percent from the floor. His season-high of 45 points came against Our Saviour Lutheran, connecting on 13 three-pointers in the victory. He guided Miami Prep to a 50-5 record during the 2021-22 campaign.
Grullon also represented the Dominican Republic at the prestigious CentroBasket U15 event held in Puerto Rico in August 2016. His best game came in the group round against Guyana as he tallied 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting to go along with four rebounds and three steals.
Grullon joins Lamine Niang (Cal State Northridge), Stefano Faloppa (Monroe College), Tarence Guinyard (Florida State College at Jacksonville), AJ Hopkins (Florida SouthWestern State College), Afan Trnka (Eastern Florida State College), Andrija Bukumirović (Eastern Florida State College) and Matija Žužić (Eastern Florida State College) as Skyhawk newcomers so far in 2024-25.
(submitted by Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director)
