Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/651219
can take over the game. He can go out and give you 30, but then give the ball up. "He's a hell of a player." Endorsements like that are one of the reasons it is so perplexing to not see Jackson's name included in the ACC Player of the Year discussion. It's one thing to not tab him as a favorite for the award — which is fair consid- ering that Notre Dame didn't hold the best record in the league (20-10 over- all, 11-7 ACC through March 9) and Jackson didn't boast the most domi- nant stats heading into the postseason — but not even in the mix? Through 30 games, Jackson paced the Irish in scoring (15.9 points per game), assists (5.0 per contest) and steals (1.3 per game) — totals that ranked 11th, second and 10th, respectively, in the ACC. He also ranked second on the Irish in minutes played (35.4 per game) and fourth in rebounding (3.4 per con- test), while shooting 45.5 percent from the field, 33.6 from beyond the three- point arc and 79.1 percent at the free throw line. Sports Illustrated published an article Feb. 19 that featured North Carolina's Brice Johnson, Duke's Grayson Allen and Virginia's Malcolm Brogdon (who ended up winning) as the frontrun- ners for the award. North Carolina State's Anthony "Cat" Barber — who boasted averages of 23.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game heading into the ACC Tournament — was also mentioned but declared "unlikely" to win the award because of the Wolfpack's subpar record (15-16 overall, 5-13 in the ACC). No reference of Jackson anywhere. "I've always been a believer that the player of the year should come from a team that's in contention, an NCAA Tournament team, a team that is winning." Irish head coach Mike Brey said. "I'm a big believer in that. "The year [former Irish forward] Luke Harangody was a part of a team that I think was 7-9, it was hard for me to say, 'He should be player of the year,' and his numbers were great. I've been on both sides of it." True to his nature, Jackson takes the high road when asked if he should be mentioned more for the award. "I've never been one for personal stuff," Jackson said. "I feel like there's a lot for me to improve on individually. There's still room for me to raise my level of play, so maybe when I could do that it'd be a bigger discussion for me." Regardless of what titles or awards he picks up, Jackson is earning him praise where it might ultimately mat- ter most — with professional scouts. DraftExpress.com projected Jackson as the No. 11 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, if he decides to leave school early. That's much higher than Allen at No. 29, Brogdon at No. 35 and Bar- ber at No. 57. It's still no guarantee, though, that Jackson will decide to leave school early. One of the reasons he could come back is the number of starters the Irish could return. Only senior forward Zach Auguste exhausts his eligibility. And while that leaves a big hole in the middle, Notre Dame is recruiting two five- star big men that could plug it right away, including Mono (Ontario) Or-