- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,143,942
- Reaction score
- 59
Pacers guard Quenton Jackson's recruitment to junior college -- which eventually led to his scholarship to Texas A&M and then his foothold in the NBA -- came about in part because of crossed wires between a head coach and his assistant.
Tim Ryan -- who was the coach at the College of Central Florida in 2017 when Jackson was being recruited out of Hillcrest Academy in Phoenix, Ariz. -- heard from a colleague that Jackson was a player worth checking out. The Patriots were entering the postseason so he asked an assistant coach to track down some video.
The assistant did as he was told, but found the wrong video.
"I told my assistant, 'Find out about how good this kid is,'" Ryan said. "He starts doing research and he says, “Coach, I saw some clips of this kid, you should get him in for a visit.’ Now I call and talk to the dad and talk to the kid. I set up the airline ticket for him to come and visit. I go to my assistant and I said, 'Hey, OK, he’s coming in on March 4, you need to pick him up at the Orlando airport. The flight is coming in from Phoenix.' My assistant said to me, “Coach, what do you mean Phoenix? The kid lives in North Carolina.' I said 'No, he lives in Phoenix.’
"My assistant coach was looking at a different kid."
The different kid was guard Quentin Jackson Jr., who had decided to enter the transfer portal after a year at North Carolina-Charlotte. He ended up going to Tallahassee (Fla.) Community College before going to Temple and then Loyola Marymount. Quenton Jackson got to campus without Ryan and his assistant knowing much of anything about his game, so they did a workout with him before deciding to offer.
"We had to go to a high school to work out," Ryan said. "We had the regional championships going on in our gym and we were playing in it so we couldn’t have him working out in our gym. But you could see his athleticism. The high school coach I was with was like, 'I don’t get it, I don’t see it,' but I did. I thought he had a chance."
Turns out he was right. Jackson averaged double figures in both of his seasons at CCF and was one of the highest rated junior college recruits entering Division I in 2019. He went to Texas A&M for three years and is in his fourth year of professional basketball.
Dustin Dopirak covers the Pacers all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Pacers Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Quenton Jackson got into junior college due to a recruiting mistake
Continue reading...
Tim Ryan -- who was the coach at the College of Central Florida in 2017 when Jackson was being recruited out of Hillcrest Academy in Phoenix, Ariz. -- heard from a colleague that Jackson was a player worth checking out. The Patriots were entering the postseason so he asked an assistant coach to track down some video.
The assistant did as he was told, but found the wrong video.
"I told my assistant, 'Find out about how good this kid is,'" Ryan said. "He starts doing research and he says, “Coach, I saw some clips of this kid, you should get him in for a visit.’ Now I call and talk to the dad and talk to the kid. I set up the airline ticket for him to come and visit. I go to my assistant and I said, 'Hey, OK, he’s coming in on March 4, you need to pick him up at the Orlando airport. The flight is coming in from Phoenix.' My assistant said to me, “Coach, what do you mean Phoenix? The kid lives in North Carolina.' I said 'No, he lives in Phoenix.’
"My assistant coach was looking at a different kid."
The different kid was guard Quentin Jackson Jr., who had decided to enter the transfer portal after a year at North Carolina-Charlotte. He ended up going to Tallahassee (Fla.) Community College before going to Temple and then Loyola Marymount. Quenton Jackson got to campus without Ryan and his assistant knowing much of anything about his game, so they did a workout with him before deciding to offer.
"We had to go to a high school to work out," Ryan said. "We had the regional championships going on in our gym and we were playing in it so we couldn’t have him working out in our gym. But you could see his athleticism. The high school coach I was with was like, 'I don’t get it, I don’t see it,' but I did. I thought he had a chance."
Turns out he was right. Jackson averaged double figures in both of his seasons at CCF and was one of the highest rated junior college recruits entering Division I in 2019. He went to Texas A&M for three years and is in his fourth year of professional basketball.
Dustin Dopirak covers the Pacers all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Pacers Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Quenton Jackson got into junior college due to a recruiting mistake
Continue reading...
