Yorkville’s Jason Jakstys has always been a player with a high ceiling, which is a good thing both literally and figuratively.
Despite being 6-foot-10, the rising senior forward isn’t likely to bump his head. And the sky truly is the limit for this slender youngster with plenty of athletic talent.
The latter became even more evident this week — that box getting checked Monday when Illinois basketball coach Brad Underwood phoned Jakstys and offered him a scholarship.
Check, check and check. It appears I just covered all my bases for sports cliches in the opening three paragraphs of this column.
And plus one with the fourth paragraph, huh?
“Getting a high offer like that means a lot,” Jakstys said of his first offer from a Power Five school. “To get an offer from Illinois, my home state school, is really cool because I grew up watching Illinois basketball. It’s neat to have that opportunity.”
Call it a full-circle connection. Jakstys’ dad, Tom, a doctor who is 6-6, grew up in Champaign and played the sport at Illinois Wesleyan.
Illinois was the 10th Division I offer for Jason, whose first came in February from Illinois State. He added an 11th on Thursday from Valparaiso.
In between have been Indiana State, Penn, St. Thomas, Lehigh, Loyola Maryland, Eastern Illinois, Boston University and Yale.
Yorkville coach John Holakovsky, preparing for his fourth season at the school, believes it is only the beginning.
“His AAU team played in its first live event this spring and Jason had a strong first half in their first game, then rolled his ankle in the second half and missed five games and a chance to be seen by a lot of coaches,” Holakovsky said.
“I had a bunch of coaches calling me in April and May who said they’re interested but want to see him play in person before making an offer. After the Illinois call, I wouldn’t be surprised if the offers don’t double or triple, to be honest.”
Jakstys, whose wingspan tops seven feet, has been making up for that lost time with his Breakaway Basketball Under Armour U-17 team and the Foxes, who have had a busy June.
He hopes to commit before the start of his senior season.
Yorkville, which returns six of its top seven players from a year ago, went 3-1 last weekend in front of many college coaches at the Riverside-Brookfield Shootout and play this weekend at another live event for NCAA coaches in Romeoville.
Jakstys also has two more important AAU events later this summer. He showcased his talents last weekend against Schaumburg, according to Holakovsky.
“We were up 10 and Jason took over, scoring four or five times in a row,” Holakovsky said. “He hit a couple of 3-pointers, dunked on a kid, got a handoff on a pick-and-roll and then took a lob pass and scored on a layup.
“He extended the lead from 10 to 20 points like that. Taking over a game comes with maturity. He scored a lot for us last year, but he’s had more spurts of carrying the offense for us this summer.”
The other returning seniors — guards Mike Dunn, Dayvion Johnson, Kaevian Johnson and Jory Boley, along with 6-5 forward Bryce Salek — give Holakovsky plenty of optimism despite the graduation of 6-5 post LeBaron Lee Jr.
“For two years, we put LeBaron next to the basket, threw it to him saying, ‘Go score,'” Holakovsky said. “There will be opportunities for everybody, not just Jason.”
Last season, Lee averaged 11.9 points and 7.8 rebounds, with Jakstys at 11.5 points and eight rebounds for the Foxes (26-6).
“I’ll still play LeBaron’s position for some of our plays,” Jakstys said. “Coach has added more that are more perimeter based so we can spread out the floor.”
Jakstys excels facing the basket.
“It’s been Jason’s game for a while now,” Holakovsky said. “His 3-point shot was always there, and it’s getting even better recently.”
There’s plenty to see here. Just wait.
