Reading between the lines, Justin Jackson was always coming back to school.
Kennedy Meeks had a short-lived stay in the NBA draft pool. When Meeks was not among the 63 players invited to the NBA Combine, he got the hint and withdrew from the draft and, hopefully, got back in the gym to work on his conditioning, his strength and his hops.
Justin Jackson WAS invited to the combine, along with UNC seniors Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson, and while scrimmaging and going through a battery of tests Jackson interviewed with a half dozen pro teams and was set to work out for San Antonio next week before he withdrew from the draft late Monday.
The experience solidified Jackson’s decision that he needed another year in Carolina blue. He was told he has to improve his outside shooting, especially from the NBA three-point range. Anyone who watched Jackson play knows that he’s a streak shooter who ended his first two college seasons on hot streaks. Danny Green is a streak shooter for the Spurs, but has greater range and stays hot for long stretches of the NBA’s 82-game schedule.
Jackson was also told he must get stronger, along with everyone who hopes to play in the NBA some day. Tyler Hansbrough, who ran rough-shod thru college basketball, doesn’t get off the bench for the Charlotte Hornets because he is not big or strong enough for the NBA game. Psycho T probably knew all that when he never considered turning pro before his record-breaking Carolina career ended.
Regardless, the draft combine has been great for Jackson and others with the option of going back to college. It gave them an up-close measuring stick of where they need to be to get drafted and make the NBA. On the positive side, teams learned what a quality kid Jackson is, how hard he works and what an unselfish team player he is. It’s easier to get more selfish than the other way around; just ask Carmelo Anthony if he’d like to give up 9 or 10 shots a game.
So, my educated guess all along was that Justin Jackson would return to UNC for his junior season, and be a much better player for the experience.
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