Throughout the summer, USA TODAY High School Sports has published a series called “60 for ’16” highlighting 60 members of the Class of 2016 who we will be watching in the coming 12 months. The final 20 athletes will be presented in order from No. 20 to No. 1 over four weeks. The athletes were selected by the USA TODAY HSS staff.
To see previous entries, click here
ATHLETE PROFILE:
Name: Josh Jackson
School: Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.)
Sport: Boys basketball
Position: Small forward
Often times great players are considered great because of their propensity to get buckets on the offensive end, especially on the high school level. Jackson, however, manages to dominate on both ends of the floor.
“And that’s what sets him apart,” ESPN recruiting analyst Reggie Rankin said. “Most guys dominate one end, but he’s working on both ends. He absolutely plays to exhaustion and that’s what you have to do in order to be a great two-way player; that’s what he is.”
Last season at Prolific Prep, Jackson, who is ranked No. 3 overall in the ESPN 100, averaged 28 points, 15 rebounds and six assists per game. As one of only four high school players picked for the USA U19 National team, which captured gold last month in Greece, he averaged 12 points and seven rebounds a game and dominated the Under Armoour AAU circuit all summer.
RELATED: Josh Jackson uses summer to continue to develop elite skills
How?
The short answer is his elite athleticism, but Rankin expanded on why “elite” is only scratching the surface of Jackson’s athletic abilities.
“His athleticism is just tremendous,” Rankin said. “Some guys have high school-level athleticism, some have college-level athleticism; Josh has NBA-level athleticism, today. That’s not normal… In a good way.”
When you warrant that type of description what is normal is to feel very self-assured and confident about your abilities.
RELATED: Josh Jackson goes off for 50 at Big Strick Classic
While we can’t reveal winners just yet, we can say that Jackson has received a lot of votes for Biggest Trash Talker in the 2015 USA Today HSS Players’ Choice AAU awards and superlatives, where elite players pick winners in a variety of different categories.
Winners will be announced Aug. 18.
“That’s just Josh. Oh, he talks now,” said Harry Giles III, the No. 1 overall player in the ESPN 100 and Jackson’s teammate on the U19 National team. “That’s a part of the game though. It’s all in good fun though and all over the course of the game. I love that about him; love his game!”
College coaches apparently do, too.
His list of college suitors reads like the NCAA Top 10 poll with everyone from Duke to Arizona to Kentucky, among many others, all giving chase.
“He’s just a special player,” Rankin said. “He’s got the type of motor that outlasts other players over the course of the game. He never stops, he just keeps on coming. That kind of player you just can’t stop.”
Follow Jason Jordan on Twitter: @JayJayUSATODAY
