Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has signed Rio Grande Valley guard Garrett Temple to a 10-day contract, marking his first-ever Call-Up to the NBA.
“Garrett is a versatile player who can play multiple positions,” said Rockets Vice President of Basketball Operations and Rio Grande Valley General Manager Gersson Rosas. “Garrett spent a lot of time with our coaching staff during the summer as a member of our Summer League entry as well as during training camp. He’s done a great job with the Vipers this season and his familiarity with the system will allow him to step right in and provide added depth at two positions where we are a little thin, due to injury.”
Temple (6-6, 190, LSU) has averaged 14.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 30 games (30 starts) with Rio Grande Valley this season. He was originally signed as an undrafted rookie free agent by Houston on Sept. 22, 2009. Temple averaged 2.5 points and 0.3 assists in four preseason games with the Rockets before being waived on Oct. 21. He also averaged 4.6 points and 0.4 assists in five games with Houston in the 2009 NBA Summer League.
As a collegian, Temple finished his career as the all-time leader in games played (134), starts (131) and minutes played (4,432, 33.1 mpg) at LSU, averaging 6.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists over his four seasons with the Tigers. He also ranked fourth in career assists (482), seventh in steals (191) and fourth in blocks (113) in school annals. Temple was one of just nine players all-time at LSU to play on two Southeastern Conference championship teams.
