Top freshman Josh Jackson eyes national title, undefeated season for Kansas
Josh Jackson isn’t running away from the expectations. He’s welcoming them.
When Kansas signed Jackson, the No. 1 recruit in the country (via 247 Sports and Rivals), it gave a program that had already won 12 consecutive Big 12 regular-season titles a chance at continuing one of the more impressive runs in college basketball history.
The Big 12 streak is constantly on the minds of fans in Lawrence, Kan. There’s no avoiding it. The players don’t want to be the team to end it. And if Kansas wins another conference title in 2017, it would match John Wooden’s record of 13 in a row with UCLA.
The 6-8, 207-pound Jackson didn’t choose Kansas with regular-season history in mind. He eyes a much bigger goal.
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“We’re going for a national championship this year,” Jackson says. “We’re also trying to go undefeated. Hopefully that happens. I know it’s hard to do, but we’ve got the power to do it.”
Even mentioning 40-0 is dangerous in college basketball for the simple reason that it has never been done. Kentucky came close in 2014-15 before losing in the national semifinal to Wisconsin after starting 38-0. Still, that desire to win everything is exactly why coach Bill Self recruited Jackson to Kansas.
“I think the consensus on Josh is that everybody loves his talent, but what people probably enjoy watching him do as much as anything else is compete,” Self says. “He’s a fierce competitor. And he’s certainly one of those team-first, ‘I’ll do anything to win’ guys.
“He’s obviously very talented. But his try level and his competitive level is about as high as anybody I’ve ever been around.”
Jackson knows the task won’t be easy. He will be the likely replacement for Wayne Selden Jr., who declared for the NBA draft after a breakout junior season. Kansas brings back a dynamic backcourt led by Frank Mason III and Devonte’ Graham. That team lost to eventual national champion Villanova in the Elite Eight. In his few months around the team, Jackson already senses a different mind-set.
“I feel like it’s more personal for us to come out and have a good season this year,” Jackson says. “I feel like we have to.”
The Detroit native signed with Kansas after a long recruiting battle that also involved Michigan State and Arizona.
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He made the decision April 11, announcing the news without a ceremony, instead tweeting a Photoshopped picture of himself in a Kansas jersey with the caption, “Next year I will be attending Kansas University.”
Even with the time that went into Jackson’s recruitment, there wasn’t the drama that college basketball fans have grown to dread during the age of the one-and-done player. Self said it was quite the opposite. It reminded him of former top recruit Andrew Wiggins’ drama-free recruitment.
“A lot of times with the really, really good ones we have dealt with … they’re the lowest-maintenance guy,” Self says.
When choosing Kansas, Jackson wasn’t thinking about a fast track to the NBA. He was always concerned about winning and doing so at a high level.
His mother, Apples Jones, told Rivals.com after Jackson’s commitment that Kansas didn’t just plan for Jackson to be at the school for one year. It was prepared for him to be there as long as he needed to be.
“I could see the future they had planned for Josh from his freshman year to his senior year,” Jones told the site. “I could also see that they cared about him more as a person than as a basketball player.”
At Kansas, there won’t be the expectation that Jackson will stick around for multiple seasons. It’s the reality of college basketball, especially for the top recruit in the country. Jackson is expected to make a solid impact as a freshman and is looked at as a major contender in the player of the year conversation. That’s even before he has stepped on court for his first game.
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“I’ve been dealing with high expectations almost my whole life,” Jackson says. “But now, it’s a little more serious. One thing my mom always tried to teach me was try not to pay too much attention to what other people say. Just go out and try to play my game and get better. Everything will be fine, and I’m a strong believer in that.”
He doesn’t know what to expect the first time he emerges from the tunnel at Allen Fieldhouse. He has heard stories from his teammates. He doesn’t know what it will be like the first time he plays on the road — in Manhattan, Kan., or Ames, Iowa. All he knows is it will be loud.
Self hopes he’ll be ready. He has been around college basketball long enough to know that an undefeated season isn’t realistic, but if Jackson and Kansas are going to chase history, they had better be prepared to work.
“With the schedule we play and the league we play in,” Self says, “you’re going to have to bring your A game every night just to put yourself in the chance, in the position to play to win.
“We’re going to be playing teams that are obviously very, very talented, and a lot of people see some of our opponents as being favorites to win the national championship, so I like the confidence. But I will say this, if that’s how the team feels, that’s great. But feeling it is one thing, now, you have to work towards it.”
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