Robert Klawitter-The Corsair
This basketball season, PJC has not one, but two Jgerenaia brothers protecting the paint for the Pirates.
Erekle, a 6-foot-8 forward, with “legitimate Division-I shooting ability,” Head Coach Paul Swanson said, is shooting 45 percent from the field, and 37 percent from behind the 3-point line. His younger brother George, a 6-foot-10 forward/center has become an integral part of PJC’s inside presence while averaging 4.3 rebounds and just under one block per game, second on the team in each category.
The Jgerenaia brothers are natives of the Republic of Georgia. Their father played basketball in the 1970s for an international club team named Dinamo Tbilisi.
“Our father started playing basketball with us when we were around 6 or 7,” George said. “He was our first coach.”
Lifelong dreams of gaining a college degree and playing college hoops have brought them here to PJC. However, the journey to get here has been different for each.
“We were born in Sokhumi, but were forced to move further inland to the capital city of Tbilisi, due to Russian invasion,” Erekle said.
However, younger years were not just tests of survival; Erekle remembers attending a basketball camp in Germany led by his favorite NBA player, Tracy McGrady. He was recruited while playing on the Junior National Team, and received a scholarship to the University of Idaho where he was red-shirted his freshman year. He transferred to Williston State Community College in North Dakota, the following year, where he played his first full season in 2008.
On the other hand, George arrived at PJC in the summer of 2008 after being recruited while attending a prep school in Maine.
“My favorite player is Toni Kukoc, I grew up trying to play like him,” George said.
George has learned a whole new style of basketball since becoming a PJC Pirate. He thanks Coach Swanson for the tremendous amount of work on his inside game and defensive presence. Coach Swanson said, “We’ve taught him to use angles and his leverage to compensate for his lack of bulk.”
After finishing out his freshman year at PJC, George was a strong influence in his brother’s transfer to PJC in the summer of 2009.
“These guys want to be players, and they’re interested in learning; they’re a credit to our basketball program and to PJC,” Coach Swanson said.
Both brothers have hopes of graduating with business degrees.
“Getting a degree is really important to us and our families,” George said.
They also intend to play basketball at a four year college, but to minimize distractions, they won’t know of scholarship offers until after the season.
If these PJC goliaths aren’t knocking down 3-pointers or snatching down rebounds, they might be slamming down burgers at the local Steak ‘n Shake. They can also be spotted at other local area hotspots like The Fish House, Seville Quarter, or Pensacola Beach. However, after classes, studying, and basketball, “we don’t have a lot of free time to do much besides rest and watch movies,” Erekle said.