Riverland’s dynamic scoring duo of Terrell Smith and Montrell Jacobs may have grown up 336 miles apart, but they’ve learned they have plenty in common in their second season with the Blue Devil men’s basketball team.

Both players know exactly how it feels to be overlooked and they also know all to well what it feels like to lose a loved one.

Smith, who is from Minneapolis, couldn’t break into the varsity roster in his first three years on the bench at Washburn High School and his life reached a crossroads when his father Robert Irving died during his junior season.

Smith transferred to Patrick Henry for his senior season, where he had a breakout season and he’s now leading the Blue Devils with 21 points, 5 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game i this sophomore season. Smith has stayed driven by his three years at the bench at Washburn and he also stays motivated by the memory of his father.

“I’ll always hold that (time at Washburn). My first three years of high school I didn’t play a lick and then in my senior year I just kind of took off,” Smith said. “I promised to father that I would continue to do what I do (on the court). I think about him every day.”

Jacobs, who is from Milwaukee, also didn’t crack the varsity lineup for his first three years of high school as he was undersized and he didn’t make his mark until his senior season at Riverside.

“I wasn’t really that good and I was on a stacked team for my first three years, but I took on a leadership role in my senior year and I made it here (to Riverland),” Jacobs said. “That’s why Terrell and I are close. We’ve got kind of the same story. Every year I’ve always been looked over and this year is kind of a wake-up call. I feel like I deserve more than what I’ve gotten and I’m trying to show everybody what I’m missing out on.”

Jacobs is averaging 17.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists for Riverland.

Jacobs’ family tragedy came when his cousin, who went by the nickname Dunde, passed away while he was still in high school.

“My little cousin died before he could even play basketball. Dunde has been my inspiration,” Jacobs said. “He died before I came to college and I can’t stop thinking about him. That’s my little man and he drowned and died. My uncle tells me every day to ‘do it for Dunde.’ Every day I think about how he wanted to play basketball and I just add that onto my fire.”

The NJCAA is filled with players who didn’t get the offer they wanted out of high school and it often pushes players to either work hard or give up. RCC head coach Derek Hahn said that Smith and Jacobs have both grown steadily since they began playing big minutes in their final seasons of high school basketball.

“We get kids and a lot of times it’s them against the world. Maybe they got overlooked, but when they get overlooked they kind of get a chip on their shoulder,” Hahn said. “In JuCo, it doesn’t matter what level you’re at. It’s a dog eat dog world and you’ve got to go out and prove yourself on a nightly basis. A lot of kids are hungry for scholarships. (Smith’s and Jacobs’) work ethic is second to none and they’ve been great leaders for us, not only on the statistical side of things, but they’ve also pushed the freshmen to get better.”

While Smith and Jacobs have garnered some interest from four-year schools, the biggest recruiting will come down the stretch when the Blue Devils take on top teams like RCTC, St. Cloud and Anoka-Ramsey.

Hahn has seen plenty of desire out of Smith and Jacobs to get to that next level.

“I think they’re drive to succeed comes from maybe things that they didn’t have growing up and I think they’re driven to be succesfull in all aspects of life,” Hahn said. “They’re focused on the academic side as much as the athletic side. One thing that’s motivating them from the basketball side is to get their last two years of school paid for.”

On the court, the Blue Devils are off to a 5-0 start and they have big goals after last season, when they played in Region title game for the first since 1972.

“We’re just trying to pick up from where we took off last year. I want to win,” Smith said. “I want to get back to where we were last year expect this time I want to win.”

The Blue Devils will play in a rematch of last year’s Region title game when they play at Central Lakes at 6 p.m. Saturday. RCC will also take on Lake Superior in Central Lakes at 4 p.m. Friday.

Montrell Jacobs

• Points per game: 17.2
• Field goal percentage: 46.3
• Three-point percentage: 42.9
• Free throw percentage: 90.0

Terrell Smith

• Points per game: 21.0
• Field goal percentage: 47.6
• Three-point percentage: 40.8
• Free throw percentage: 83.3