Utah Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor announced today that the team has signed center Marcus Cousin (pronounced coo-ZON) of the NBA Development League’s Austin Toros to a 10-day contract. Cousin becomes the NBA’s 14th D-League Call-Up and 12th different player promoted to the NBA this season. Following the transaction, the Jazz roster now stands at 15 players.
Cousin will be available when the Jazz faces the Raptors tonight at 5 p.m. MT in Toronto (TV: FSN Utah, Radio: 1320 KFAN).
A 2011 D-League All-Star selection, Cousin (6-11, 255, Houston) was averaging 14.7 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.16 blocks while shooting .533 from the field through 38 games (all starts) for the Toros this season. He leads the Toros in both scoring and rebounding, having reached double figures in scoring 30 times while registering 16 double-doubles. The Toros are coached by former Jazz scout and ex-Utah Flash head coach Brad Jones.
Cousin attended training camp with the San Antonio Spurs prior to the 2010-11 season, appearing in five preseason games and averaging 5.2 points and 4.2 rebounds in 15.8 minutes before being waived on October 21.
The 24-year-old Baltimore native played two collegiate seasons at Seton Hall (2004-06) before transferring to the University of Houston (2007-09). Cousin was not selected in the 2009 NBA Draft and spent the 2009-10 season playing professionally in Turkey and Israel.
Cousin becomes the sixth D-League Call-Up in Jazz history, joining Rusty LaRue (2000-01), Mikki Moore (2003-04), Louis Amundson (2006-07), Sundiata Gaines (2010-11) and Othyus Jeffers (2010-11).
