INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI Athletics Department and head basketball coach Jason Gardner announced the signing of Calvin Temple (Olive Branch, Miss./Center Hill) to a National Letter of Intent to join the Jaguars, beginning next season. Temple is a high scoring 6-foot-1 guard and will be a true freshman, beginning with the 2019-20 campaign.  

"Calvin is just a true playmaker with the ball in his hands. He can really score it a lot of different ways. He's got a great stroke from three, but he's also shown he's good off the bounce and getting to the rim and finishing through contact. He's got the midrange game to go along with it, so he's a really hard matchup offensively," Gardner said. "I know he's worked really hard in the weight room to get stronger and I think that's going to make him better in all aspects of his game. 

"From day one though, he's going to be a guy that we can depend on to come in and knock down shots and spread the floor with his three-point shooting."

Temple chose IUPUI over a final five that also included UALR, Campbell, Louisiana Monroe and Tulsa. In doing so, he became Center Hill's first-ever Division I basketball signee. He played AAU with the Alabama Hawks and also competed on the EYBL circuit. Temple was deemed ineligible to play for Center Hill his junior year after transferring in from Olive Branch High School, leaving him looking for a place to play. He ultimately played his junior year at Aspire (Ky.) Academy where he took over a starting job by season's end. He averaged 13.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game while shooting 46 percent from three-point range. Despite playing just 10 games at Aspire, he still made a team-high 29 treys and had a season-high 24-point scoring game. 

This season, Temple is averaging 22.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game, having helped Center Hill to a 4-0 start to the year. Despite not playing at Center Hill his junior year, he was named to the Clarion Ledger's Dandy Dozen before the season, touting the top 12 players from across the state of Mississippi. 

Temple erupted on college recruiters' radars last summer when he reeled off a string of 30+ scoring games, which included a 40-point outburst. He and Gardner immediately hit it off as his recruitment intensified. 

"I knew Coach Gardner was a really good point guard at Arizona and I knew I could learn a lot from him," Temple said. "He can help me grow as a player and continue to get better.

"I have a knack for scoring. I definitely take pride in my ability to score and I practice working on hitting hard shots during all of my workouts."

Temple is IUPUI's second signee for next season, joining Texas-native Taevion White. He becomes the Jaguars' fourth newcomer for the 2019-20 campaign as both Marcus Burk and Jamil Jackson are sitting out the season at Division I transfers. 

Temple intends on studying business communications or sports management at IUPUI. 
 

IUPUI Men's Basketball Recruiting Class (as of 11/20/2018)
Name	Pos.	Ht.	Hometown	High School
Calvin Temple	G	6-1	Olive Branch, Miss.	Center Hill
Taevion White	F	6-7	Prosper, Texas	Prosper / Pro Holmes Sports Academy