When talking about guards that play defense with intensity in the 2019 class, Jalen Jackson immediately comes into mind as the set-up man has shown to be a winner with a 5A State Championship with Wagner High School and now has added a 16U title from the Under Armour Association. Jackson knows how to win and follows a strong performance in Atlanta by leading his Hardwork squad to an 5-1 record at the GASO in the second week of the live period.
Hardwork is the first grassroots program ever to bring a Under Armour title to Texas and Jackson talks about the factors that led to his team’s success
“We came together and a couple weeks before (UA Finals) and we had a couple practices in San Antonio where a couple of my teammates drove from Dallas to get to it. It helped a lot with the team chemistry on the court.”
Jalen looks at his team like a brotherhood
“When we finally got there (Atlanta) it just felt like a family. It felt like a brotherhood and that was big for us in winning it all. When we play, we move the ball well and we fly around on defense. When our defense gets going and we’re scoring, we just have fun out there.”
Jackson also talks the staff about his recruitment. Jackson in the past month has turned the interest he’s been getting to offers.
“UIW, UTSA, Middle Tennessee State, and Tulsa have offered me so far. They all have been to my games in this live period and have all have been in contact with me a lot.”
He talks to us about what the schools see where he fits into their system and what he brings to the table.
“They like how I run my team and shown that I can score when I need to. How I lead and how the intensity I play with carries over to my teammates. They think I can bring those qualities to their school and key piece to their success.”
Jackson has shown the ability to score off the bounce and also feels his improved jumper has helped schools pull the trigger with an offer.
“I feel that my jump shot has seen a lot of improvement although I gotta keep working on it. Showing that I can shoot has helped me with my recruitment.”
We will see what Jackson has in store in Las Vegas and going forward but be sure to follow Texasboysbasketball.com for news and notes and follow us on Twitter @texasboysbasketbal & ani_umana. Be on the lookout for the Cream of The Crop Camp on Aug. 19-20 as we showcase the top 2021-2022 players in the state. Registration will be up
Texasboysbasketball.com evaluates the prospects in each event the staff covers with in-depth scouting reports. College coaches, subscribe to the site to receive reports as we assess hundreds of prospect from the state of Texas.