SALT LAKE CITY (April 20, 2012) – Utah Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor announced today that the team has signed guard Blake Ahearn for the remainder of the season. Ahearn, who was originally signed by the Jazz to a 10-day contract on April 10 from the D-League’s Reno Bighorns, became the NBA’s 50th D-League Call-Up this season and has since seen 15 minutes of action in three games with Utah. The Jazz will now finish the regular season with 15 players on its roster.
A 2012 D-League All-Star selection, Ahearn (6-3, 190, Missouri State) appeared in 37 games, all starts, for the Bighorns this season, averaging 23.8 points, 5.1 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.0 steals in 37.5 minutes. Ahearn scored in double figures in all 37 appearances, including eight games scoring 30 or more points. During the season, Ahearn established the NBA D-League’s all-time record for consecutive made free throws when he connected on 110 in a row between December 2011 and January 2012. The record tops the NBA mark of 97 set by Micheal Williams in 1993.
A five-year NBA D-League veteran, Ahearn returned to the NBA after having played with the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs during the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons, respectively. In 18 career NBA games Ahearn’s averages now stand at 4.5 points, 1.2 assists and 1.3 rebounds in 11.7 minutes.
Ahearn became the eighth D-League Call-Up in Jazz history, joining Rusty LaRue (2000-01), Mikki Moore (2003-04), Louis Amundson (2006-07), Sundiata Gaines (2010-11), Othyus Jeffers (2010-11), Marcus Cousin (2011-12) and Kyle Weaver (2011-12).