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2020 Pirate Player Preview: Tray Jackson

Date: June 24, 2020

By: Heaven Hill

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The Associated Press

For the past month or so, we have taken a glance at each player on the Pirates’ roster, analyzing their highlights, strengths, and their potential outlook for next season. However, today we have a player that unfortunately will not be able to suit up next year for Seton Hall. Tray Jackson, a transfer from Mizzou, will have to sit out a season, but will then have three years of eligibility starting in the 2021-22 season. Although he cannot play for now, here is a summary of what happened at Mizzou, along with a couple reasons why Jackson was so coveted by Coach Kevin Willard and will be a huge addition to the rotation in a year.

His tenure at Missouri was strange, to say the least

Jackson wasn’t initially supposed to end up at Missouri. He visited Seton Hall at one point, and even had a verbal commitment to Minnesota and Richard Pitino. However, when Jackson flipped his commitment to Mizzou on a random midnight in October of 2018, the fanbase rejoiced. After all, he was a four-star, top-100 player at combo forward who could torch defenders from all three levels on the court. With the departures of notable forwards like Michael Porter Jr., Jordan Barnett, and Kevin Puryear, the Tigers needed a scoring presence on the wing and Jackson provided that.

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Rivals.com

Once he stepped foot on campus, however, everything seemed to shift for some reason. Jackson, being the highly rated recruit that he was, assumed he would get a starting role or at least be a significant member of the rotation. Unfortunately, another freshman forward, Kobe Brown, began to stand out for his hustle and motor, and he eventually started 26 out of 30 games.

Moreover, the Tigers frontcourt was fairly crowded, with players like Reed Nikko, Jeremiah Tilmon, and Mitchell Smith all getting over 15 minutes per game last season. Simply put, imagine starting in every basketball game you have ever played; then, you have to adjust to getting spot minutes at random times throughout the season, sometimes going multiple games between playing time.

Essentially, Jackson’s situation was similar to Myles Cale and his first season at Seton Hall. Both players went from being primary options in high school and elsewhere, to having to adjust to being tertiary role players in their first seasons at the college level. Even then, Cale got about 17 minutes per game, while Jackson only played a meager eight minutes per game in his 26 outings.

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L.G. Patterson/AP Photo

While there might be questions about Jackson’s conditioning or poor defense, it could easily be attributed to his inconsistent role on the team. He had some bright spots at Mizzou, like scoring seven points in a two-minute stretch against Tennessee, or his nine-point, four-rebound outing in an overtime win against Arkansas. Unfortunately, it just did not work out and he was not able to find a groove.

Jackson is not the perfect prospect, but then again, few players are. There are some areas he can improve on in his game, but that can be said for almost everyone. However, what is not arguable is that Jackson possesses tremendous slashing and shot-creating ability, and he showed flashes of his potential on the EYBL circuit and at Sunrise Christian Academy. Let’s take a look at some of those skills.

Jackson is already a top-tier athlete on the roster

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AP Photo

It is pretty well-known that Cale has the most hops on the Pirates roster, with a vertical of over 40 inches and tons of earth-shattering dunks over the last few seasons. However, Jackson might be able to give him a run for his money. Before he was a Missouri Tiger, he was going viral for his disrespectful jams during his post-graduate season at Sunrise Christian Academy.

Check out this absurd move:

That wasn’t just a one-time occasion either; look at his ability here to recognize the path of the ball and crash the glass for a thunderous put back slam:

Although these dunks are great for exposure, Jackson is much more than just a dunker. As mentioned earlier, he showed during AAU play for the MeanStreets Express that he was capable of creating his own shot. He averaged over 13 points per game, getting his own from all three levels with an array of different moves.

Going beyond the highlights, Jackson’s AAU team utilized a simple four-out system to space the floor and create easy shots. He frequently spotted up on the elbow, the corners, and the wings, to spread the defense. Although Jackson only shot 30.2% from beyond the arc in EYBL, he displayed sound fundamentals and mechanics on his jumper, so his percentage from three-point land should hypothetically increase as his career progresses.

Basically, Jackson has shown in the past that he can be a threat to score from anywhere. If he is in the corner or at the wing, he attacks as big men scramble to close out, finishing with a variety of gathers to perfection. If Jackson is at the top of the key, he has shown an affinity for jab steps and other moves in the triple threat, taking what the defense gives him.

Those abilities will help him develop immensely, as it demonstrated he can take advantage of mismatches, scoring away from the rim and off the dribble. We have seen what he can do on offense, but let’s now take a look at his defense and his potential on that end.

Jackson has the build to become an elite two-way player

Jackson is about 6-foot-8-inches and 200-pounds, with a wingspan of 6-foot-9inches; while his frame is not overly long or lanky, he is lean and can potentially add more mass to his body. This would help him on both ends, as he could post up smaller defenders on the block, but most importantly, hold his ground in the paint and box out for tough rebounds. Sitting out for a season will be crucial as he adds more muscle, but he already has the athleticism and build to help him dominate on offense and defense.

While Jackson did not play much at Mizzou, his defense was promising in some areas. Diving into his advanced stats, he led the Tigers with a defensive rebounding percentage of 20.5% in 210 minutes, meaning in the time he was on the court, he corralled about a fifth of the available defensive boards.

That mark would have led all qualified Pirates, even surpassing Jared Rhoden’s phenomenal mark of 20%. Not only was he great at cleaning the glass, but his block percentage of 1.8% would have ranked fifth on Seton Hall’s roster, and his defensive box plus- minus of 1.1 was decent, as well.

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Stephen Lew/USA TODAY Sports

Brian Snow, a national basketball analyst for 247Sports, compared Jackson to Xavier Tillman from the Michigan State Spartans. Tillman, coming in at 6-foot-8-inches and 250-pounds, was one of the best defenders in the nation this past season. With an uncanny ability to impact every action on a possession, he tags roll men, denies passing lanes, and deters shots with ease.

That comparison is a tall task for Jackson to live up to, but he definitely has the goods to come close. Imagine a tantalizing small-ball lineup for Seton Hall in two years with Takal Molson, Dimingus Stevens, Rhoden, Jackson and Tyrese Samuel rounding out the five: a long and interchangeable group with everyone able to switch and defend multiple positions.

All in all, we have learned a little more about Tray Jackson and his tenure at Mizzou. We have analyzed his strengths on offense, and we looked at what he was able to showcase on defense at Mizzou in limited minutes. Now, all that is left is to lock Jackson in a weight room with a personal chef and assistant coaches Duane Woodward and Grant Billmeier, and iron him out as a prospect. Once the 2021-22 season rolls around, after he’s had ample time to adjust and learn Coach Willard’s playbook, Jackson could be a powerful force in the frontcourt for the Pirates for years to come.

Heaven Hill is an Assistant Sports Director for WSOU Sports and can be reached at heaven.hill@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: Men's Basketball, Sports, WSOU

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