Former Essington Cannons star Raymond Jarrett to play versatile playmaker role at Ellas Titans in 2021 Darwin Basketball League

HAVING his good friend and consistent shooting guard Ben Streeter at Ellas was enough to lure Raymond Jarrett to the club from NBL1 Central team South Adelaide.

Former Essington star import Raymond Jarrett is a key signing at Ellas Titans for the 2021 Darwin Basketball League. Picture: Glenn Campbell

HAVING his good friend and consistent shooting guard Ben Streeter at Ellas was enough to lure Raymond Jarrett to the club from NBL1 Central team South Adelaide.

In January, the NT News revealed the star import from Kansas City would be heading to the South Australian capital, and he was excited to do so because the club offered him his natural shooting guard position.

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But Jarrett has since returned to the Top End, and he will step out for his new team in Round 1 of the 2021 Darwin Basketball League against Uni Rebels on Friday night.

The versatile marquee signing is a massive one for the Titans, who are now expected to be competitive this season, after surprisingly missing out on a Championships finals berth last year.

“Coming back to play alongside Ben led to my decision,” Jarrett told the NT News.

“South Adelaide is a wonderful organisation, but logistically it just wasn’t ideal.

“The plan is to mix it up and have me playing inside and outside because of my size.

“I’m feeling great and I want to go out and dominate.”

Jarrett, 31, was a standout for Essington last year.

He finished with 561 points (third best in the league), 115 turnovers (top in the league) and 252 rebounds (fourth best).

That helped the Cannons make it to the preliminary final, after many predicted them to not make it that far, ultimately losing 125-84 to Tracy Village.

The week before, Jarrett helped Essington to a memorable 108-103 win over Ansett, finishing with 35 points.

“It was a really great, Cinderella year with Essington last year,” he said.

“No one expected us to get that far.

“Some of the Ansett boys said I wouldn’t score 40 points and it was friendly banter. But I wanted to go out and prove them wrong.

“Not being named in the league top 15 for the DBA awards gave me more motivation.”