There are a few things that make Ian Jackson standout in a crowd and the thick locks of his hair are one of his biggest features – until now.
Jackson, a day before his return to the St. John’s basketball starting lineup, decided to cut his hair for the first time since 7th grade. It stunned everyone involved with the program and no one had an answer for why he did it.
“Nobody recognized him when he came in the locker room the first day,” Oziyah Sellers joked. “Now, he can see the rim when he’s finishing.”
The New York City standout said after the Red Storm’s game against Iona on Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden that he was looking for a “fresh start.”
The clean slate for Jackson is not necessarily correlated to basketball, but more in general.
“I don’t care if you have hair down to your ankles, you just have to be able to see,” Rick Pitino said of his guard’s new look.
Jackson had an up-and-down performance in the 91-64 victory for the Red Storm but finished with a flurry and ended the day with 14 points, five rebounds, three assists, and three steals. He committed five turnovers in the 4-of-11 shooting performance.
It was Jackson’s first start since opening night when the Johnnies defeated Quinnipiac and while the numbers don’t directly show it, the improvement and greater attention to detail was evident in the encouraging performance.
“Ian is a really good basketball player, and he could go from good to great in a short period of time because his willingness to learn, grow, get better,” Pitino added. “Everything about him spells greatness down the road.”
“He was a high school All-American, he’s got the potential to be a college All-American, but he’s an All-American person. He has confidence, but he has no ego. It’s always about other people, about the team. He wants to do well for the team…Love coaching him. He listens to every word.”
Given St. John’s success against Iona, Ian Jackson could remain the team’s starting point guard for a very important stretch to end the month of December that will see the No. 22 Johnnies (6-3) open Big East play against DePaul, battle Kentucky in Atlanta, and play its first true road game of the season against Georgetown.