Notre Dame's Demetrius Jackson Selected In NBA Draft
The hometown hero finally has a new place to dig his roots.
After growing up in Mishawaka, Ind., and attending nearby Marian High before playing college ball at Notre Dame, former Irish standout Demetrius Jackson was selected in the second round at No. 45 overall by the Boston Celtics in Thursday night's NBA Draft.
Jackson announced his intentions to forego his senior year of eligibility back in March. He averaged a team-high 15.8 points, 4.7 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game as a junior, and helped the Irish to back-to-back Elite Eight appearances the last two seasons, including an ACC tournament championship in 2014-15.
His selection marks the second straight year Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey has overseen at least one of his players selected in the event. Former guard Jerian Grant was chosen No. 19 overall by the Washington Wizards in 2015 before being traded to the New York Knicks on draft night (he was just traded again this week to the Chicago Bulls,) and another standout Pat Connaughton was chosen in the second round (No. 41 overall) last year by the Brooklyn Nets before being traded to the Portland Trailblazers.
"A big-time athlete who tested off the charts at the NBA Combine" ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said live during the draft. "43.5-inch vertical - that's two years in a row, remember Pat Connaughton and what he did with a 44-inch vertical? Notre Dame putting out some athletes.
"Really good off the pick-and-roll. He can really score, gets to the rim and finishes and plays low. Keeps his shoulders low. He can be a really good defender, and has in fact said he wants to be an elite defender in the NBA.
"Solid frame. I like the way he can shoot it. He's really good off pick-and-rolls. A 62 percent finisher around the rim, and he had 114 assists out of pick-and-roll situations.
"Really good kid and really good player."
The Celtics finished with a 48-34 overall record last season, earning a fifth place finish in the regular season in the Eastern Conference. They have three point guards listed on their depth chart, led by Isaiah Thomas, who's played for the Celtics since 2014-15. He averaged 22.2 points and 6.2 assists per game last season, and was named a NBA All-Star in his conference.
Jackson was projected to go anywhere from as high as 10th overall to the end of the first round in various mock drafts prior to Thursday night, which made his drop to No. 45 a surprise to nearly all. CBS Sports' NBA analyst Sam Vecenie had Jackson pegged for a few teams in that range in an interview with Blue & Gold Illustrated earlier in June (link).
"The ability to play in the pick-and-roll is such an important skillset for modern point guards to have, and so Demetrius not only is an incredible athlete but he understands how to operate that," Vecenie said. "He understands how to get a guy on his back and keep him there. He understands how to maneuver around a screen and how to get the screener positioned.
"He does a lot of that stuff really well, and it's easy to see him thriving in the NBA because of that. There's more space in the midrange. Guys are more athletic, but with that space there's a little more time for him to make reads.
"It will be interesting to see how he translates, because with the way his style translates, it's a perfect fit for where the modern NBA is going."
The dates for the 2016 NBA Summer League vary between July 2-18, with games scheduled in Orlando, Utah and Las Vegas.
Replacing Jackson's role in Notre Dame's starting lineup next year could be rising junior Matt Farrell, incoming freshman Temple Gibbs Jr., or a combination of both.
After a minimal bench role throughout most of conference play, Farrell started all four games for the Irish in the NCAA tournament, averaging 6.5 points and 3.5 assists in 26.8 minutes per game while committing only five total turnovers in the four contests.
Gibbs Jr. averaged 20.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game as a senior at Seton Hall Prep in West Orange, N.J., and was ranked as the No. 62 overall player nationally by Rivals.com in the 2016 class. That No. 62 slot is the highest ranked signee for Notre Dame since Jackson checked in at No. 38 overall in the 2013 class.
