Anthony Davis reincarnate? Kentucky freshman sets the bar high.
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Get to know the 2020-21 Wildcats
Preseason interviews with University of Kentucky men’s basketball players and coaches are underway. Click below to see a full menu of stories published to date by the Lexington Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com looking ahead to the 2020-21 season.
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When Isaiah Jackson was growing up in Pontiac, Mich., he had a sticker on his bedroom wall depicting a generic player dunking. He wrote “Kentucky” on the sticker. He had a mini hoop on his door and, he said, “a bunch” of Kentucky shirts.
Jackson traces this establishment of a northern outpost of the Big Blue Nation to watching Kentucky win the 2012 NCAA Tournament.
“I just fell in love,” he said on a Zoom teleconference Tuesday. “I could tell here was just a winning culture. . . . I forget what grade I was in. But ever since then, I was just in love with Kentucky.”
Not surprisingly, the star of stars on that Kentucky team, Anthony Davis, made an impression. Jackson sort of spoke of becoming Davis 2.0 this coming season.
“We’re both the same,” he said. “We’re tall, long, can block shots and do everything. . . . I was always watching Kentucky heavy, seeing the stuff that he did. I feel I can sort of mirror my game after him in a way.”
Shot blocking was among the ways Davis impacted Kentucky games. His 186 blocks in 2011-12 far surpasses the second-most blocks in a season by a Kentucky player (106 by Willie Cauley-Stein in 2013-14 and Nerlens Noel in 2012-13). Davis’ 186 remains the NCAA record for a freshman and is the fourth-most ever by a Division I player.
“I sort of have a knack for it,” Jackson said of blocking shots. “It’s sort of natural. I really don’t know. It’s just something I guess I was just born to do.”
His high school coach, David McGlown, vouched for Jackson’s shot-blocking ability. McGlown said it’s an ability that combines basketball savvy as well as height (6-foot-10) and eagerness.
“If he couldn’t block it, he’s not one of those guys to get 12 fouls trying to block shots,” McGlown said. “If he can get it, he’s going to get it. . . . He probably averaged eight or nine blocks last year.”
UK coaches and players have noticed Jackson’s ability to block shots and protect the rim.
“Unbelievable lift,” assistant coach James “Bruiser” Flint said this preseason. “So, I think he’s going to be not just a good defensive player, but a really good defensive player.”
Added Jacob Toppin: “He’s getting blocks all the time.”
Assistant coach Jai Lucas echoed the sentiment when he said, “I mean, he is a special, special shot blocker. I think he’s probably one of the ones that’s going to surprise a lot of people this season. Just from how he’s been playing and his development form the last time I saw him and where he is today. I think he’s a name that people will start talking about and mentioning as we start playing games.”
Dontaie Allen left himself no wiggle room when he said of Jackson, “He’s going to be one to watch for the season. Write it down.”
Jackson did not fully embrace the buzz he’s created this preseason.
“It’s good,” he said. “It’s good publicity or whatever. I really don’t try to look at those things. I like to think of myself as the underdog. I feel like me thinking like that, I can show a lot of people what I can do and surprise a lot of people.”
Count UK Coach John Calipari among those surprised.
“(He) can do more than I thought,” Calipari said of Jackson this preseason. At the time, the UK coach said Jackson was shooting the highest percentage as well as blocking the most shots among Kentucky players in practice.
For all the talk of shot blocking, Jackson said that being a “big” has not been his basketball ambition.
“I always wanted to be a guard,” he said. “I never wanted to play ‘big,’ to be honest.”
McGlown suggested that Jackson had a more versatile game than people might expect. “Last year he brought the ball up the court like a point guard,” the high school coach said. “He was probably my best passer.”
Jackson thanked Calipari for giving him permission to play on the perimeter some.
When asked why he aspired to be a guard, Jackson said, “I feel like guards . . . they always pretty much have the ball in their hands.”
As for “bigs,” he said, “They don’t really touch the ball. We get rebounds and play defense and stuff. . . . I feel I can show people that I can play guard.”
Meanwhile, Jackson is agreeable to adding a big man component to his game. He said he had added weight — from 202 pounds when he arrived to about 210 — to help handle the physical play near the basket. He said he does not feel “the bumps and bruises” as much thanks to the added weight.
“I need to gain more weight, for sure, to play at the next level,” he said. “For right now, I feel I’m at the right weight for me.”
Jackson acknowledged he continues to learn about playing “big.” For instance, one-handed rebounds are a no-no. “He’ll be pissed about that,” he said of Calipari.
Meanwhile, Jackson is in something of a psychic limbo. As a Kentucky player, he’s part of the program he celebrated on his bedroom wall growing up. But because of the coronavirus pandemic, it’s an altered version of Kentucky basketball.
“I don’t even feel like I’m here, but I’m here,” he said. “And it’s weird. It’s a good feeling, but it’s still so surreal.”
Because of COVID-19 precautions, playing in front of a capacity crowd probably will not happen.
“In a way, I do feel a little cheated,” Jackson said. “But, I mean, it’s life. We’ve got to keep pushing and just move on.”
Important upcoming dates
Thursday: Pro Day, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
Nov. 20: Big Blue Madness, 9 p.m. (SEC Network)
Nov. 25: Season opener vs. Morehead State in Rupp Arena
This story was originally published November 10, 2020 at 2:57 PM.
