Former Defensive Player of the Year, the Memphis Grizzlies’ power forward Jaren Jackson Jr. was always a wanted asset, even before his NBA career started. JJJ committed to Michigan State, but he was recruited by a few of the programs, such as Maryland, Notre Dame, Michigan, and Purdue. In the recent episode of the Out The Mud podcast he talked about his thought process behind joining the Spartans.
Tom Izzo was already a legend at Michigan State. He joined the team in 1995 as a head coach and established a winning culture for the Spartans. His overall record since then is 707-295, and he won one national championship in 2000. He also led the team to eight final-four appearances during his long tenure with the team, and he surely knew how to speak to his players, something that separated Michigan State from other suitors.
“I was talking to their coaches a lot, and, I mean, the thing that just separated Izzo, he just kept it real,” Jackson Jr. said. “Like, you could just tell that he's keeping it real. I felt like my parents gave me a good sense of judgment, you know, for, like, real comments versus fake comments.”
“And, like, it was really stood out, like, when I would play games and all the coaches would call me, like, great game, great game, and Izzo would be like, or Fife would be like, that was okay, I guess. Tough love,” the versatile forward added. “Then I started to see through it, like, man, I think I would really get better here.”
Still, even though the 6’10” power forward liked the straight forward approach by the head tactician, he wasn’t sure about joining the Spartans. At one point everybody thought that he was going to Maryland.
Jackson even said that he didn’t answer Izzo’s calls at one point. But, eventually, he committed to the team, and went on to have a superb season before declaring for the NBA draft in 2018. Jackson Jr. revealed that he was initially uncertain about entering the NBA after his first season, but it was Izzo’s persistence that ultimately pushed him to go pro.
“I'm going to stay. I'm going to come out. This is my second year,” JJJ said. “I'm going to stay one more year, coach. He made me leave. I wouldn't have left.”
Before being picked as a fourth overall pick in the NBA draft by the Grizzlies, "Triple J" averaged 11.3 points per game in 33 appearances for the Spartans, as well as 5.8 rebounds per game, and 3.2 blocks per game, while shooting 52.0% from the field and 39.6% from behind the perimeter line. The forward translated the same type of game to the NBA where he thrives with his young Memphis Grizzlies squad.
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