Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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MEN'S BASKETBALL ritory for our program coming from where we were." For Notre Dame, it's about having selective memory this season — chan- neling past squads that achieved de- spite doubt, but forgetting a 2013-14 season gone awry. DEMETRIUS JACKSON STEPS IN AS FLOOR GENERAL For too much of his freshman sea- son, point guard Demetrius Jackson looked lost. He often found himself in the rare situation of having to create shots off the ball and, when he did possess it, he struggled with finding a shot against the ACC's physical guards and impos- ing big men. "You go from playing in the NIC [Jackson's conference at Marian High School in nearby Mishawaka] to playing in the ACC, all of the sud- den there's some dudes in there that are a little bit bigger than me that can block your shot," head coach Mike Brey said. "He's learned to stop and shoot the runner." Once point guard Eric Atkins grad- uated, the offense became Jackson's. So too did the position of floor gen- eral, one that has been a mainstay of success under Brey, from Chris Thomas to Tory Jackson, among oth- ers. "The best thing that happened to Demetrius Jackson is Eric Atkins is in Athens, Greece," Brey said. "He gets to have the ball and quarterback it." Few doubt Jackson's talent — he came out of high school rated as a four-star prospect and the No. 49 over- all player in the nation according to 247Sports — but the transition to col- lege flummoxed him athletically and academically. Despite depending on him more as a sophomore, Brey is preaching a simplified role, one that plays to his strengths as an on-ball defender. "He pressures the ball unlike any- body we've had here in my 14 years," Brey said. "It's really helping us start our defensive possessions. Teams will have to start their possessions a little further out and it starts with his pres- sure on the ball. On the offensive end, just quarterback our team and make good decisions with it. That's all I want him to do: pressure the ball and make good decisions. "You know that scoring stuff? That will happen." Jackson has admitted feelings of frustration as a rookie, but believes he has transformed into a new player in the seven months since last season ended. "The coaches have done a great job teaching me better guard decisions," Jackson said. "One of the things I've focused on is being a great defender. I feel like that's helping me out for sure: getting my hands on loose balls for our team and that's really helped us out." Brey also expects the starting role to motivate Jackson in his second season. "We kind of stumbled on his role or evolved into his role after the second game in Italy," Brey said. "I was go- ing down each guy and I said, 'I think