A current junior at St. Augustine Prep in New Jersey, Elmarko Jackson has all the tools to be a standout PG when he joins a D1 college. With offers from Seton Hall, Rider, and Siena; Cal is his first Power 5 Conference offer.
Jackson is a big, fast score-first point guard. He’s an excellent driver and when he get to the paint has an excellent touch off the glass. As a shooter, Jackson has a clean, fluid release and is able to shoot the elbow and short corner jumpers well. He’s a three-star recruit and 13th best junior in NJ according to 247Sports.com.
As a sophomore, Jackson helped lead the Hermits to a 27-5 record and spot in the state final, but due to Covid-19 restrictions, their shot at the New Jersey title was cut short.
When asked about the way he plays, Jackson kept things simple.
“I’m a dog. Coach can put me anywhere, and I will succeed.
“I’m very hard to stop in the paint, a good distributor on offense, and always find open spots to find my teammates.”
Evidenced by his play in a recent showcase, Jackson has been working hard to improve his point-guard and shooting skills since the end of last season.
“I’ve been working on my jumpshot a lot this summer in quarantine. On preseason games I’ve been showcasing it. I used to be a two-range threat.
“I’m currently working on sharpening up PG skills with one of my AAU coaches (We Are One) Terell Myers. Picking rolls, reading screens.”
At the 2020 Pangos All-East Frosh/Soph Camp, Jackson exhibited improvement in explosiveness and passing ability, dishing out dimes and hammering down breakaway dunks. He appears to be much more athletic now then in his sophomore year.**
**Jackson is technically listed as 6’3 180 lbs by Rivals.com, but stated that he had grown an inch and 10 pounds, putting him at 6’4 190.
When asked about what he’s looking for at the next level and the offer from Cal, Jackson was thrilled with the opportunity.
“I like the academics. That’s what I’m looking for. Number one academics. You need something to rely on so I like the academics.
“In basketball, I like that they (Cal) play very freely and get after it.”
Jackson is an “academics come first” type of player, and lucky for him, he just got an offer from the best public university in the world.
Jackson and the St. Augustine Hermits will take on Trenton Catholic Academy on Sunday after a 1-1 start to their 20-21 season.
I like this kid. He's got great size, athleticism, and skills. I like the attitude, and the character. "I'm a dog. Coach can put me anywhere, and I'll be successful" and academics are a big priority for him. Sounds like his head is in the right place. The videos are not very good quality, but it looks like he is changing speeds a lot, slowing down and speeding up when needed. I'd like to see more video of him. Hard to believe he is only a 3-star. Hope Fox can stay on him for the duration, as I'd guess many schools will be looking at him.
I don't think this is good news.....mahaney is also a junior PG who Cal has been recruiting very hard...This probzbly means Mahoney is not coming...Nobody likes to be the #2 PG. Bad news....
Cal is recruiting (6) PG's for the 2022 class. The grades range from 2* to *5 stars. Jackson is listed as somewhere between *2 and *3 stars. Mahoney is listed as a *2 star. Jackson is listed as a SG according to one rating site. First player to commit gets the brass ring. Roberson is more of a SG than PG. Hyder is a combo guard. Brown would be a SR in the 2022 year. I suppose you could get two kids rather than one. Monty said you need three PG's on your team. Cal needs to finish fairly strong .to entice kids.
Cal is recruiting (6) PG's for the 2022 class. The grades range from 2* to *5 stars. Jackson is listed as somewhere between *2 and *3 stars. Mahoney is listed as a *2 star. Jackson is listed as a SG according to one rating site. First player to commit gets the brass ring. Roberson is more of a SG than PG. Hyder is a combo guard. Brown would be a SR in the 2022 year. I suppose you could get two kids rather than one. Monty said you need three PG's on your team. Cal needs to finish fairly strong .to entice kids.
Jackson looked more like an SG to me, but one mixtape is not enough for me to go on. I'd rather see a 40 minute game tape to get a better idea of what he can do. Remember the good old days when both guards could distribute the ball and set teammates up? Now we are getting closer to both guards being combo guards, both shooting the ball and distributing far less, in Cal's case anyway.
Cal is recruiting (6) PG's for the 2022 class. The grades range from 2* to *5 stars. Jackson is listed as somewhere between *2 and *3 stars. Mahoney is listed as a *2 star. Jackson is listed as a SG according to one rating site. First player to commit gets the brass ring. Roberson is more of a SG than PG. Hyder is a combo guard. Brown would be a SR in the 2022 year. I suppose you could get two kids rather than one. Monty said you need three PG's on your team. Cal needs to finish fairly strong .to entice kids.
Jackson looked more like an SG to me, but one mixtape is not enough for me to go on. I'd rather see a 40 minute game tape to get a better idea of what he can do. Remember the good old days when both guards could distribute the ball and set teammates up? Now we are getting closer to both guards being combo guards, both shooting the ball and distributing far less, in Cal's case anyway.
I totally agree on the mixtape issue. The only thing I get from the mixtapes is that some players can dunk. There's nothing about how they play defense, which is half the game! While some videos may show some made shots, they don't really show the misses. I want to see whether the player has good form on all of his shots, including on the misses. Watching an endless video of dunks and fastbreaks just shows me the player can play a little streetball. But organized basketball is not streetball. I need to see how the player sets up his teammates, how he runs an offense, how he sets and uses screens, how he hustles for loose balls, how he beats his opponent to the spot, how he anticipates plays, etc. Mixtapes show none of that.
As for "combo guards", screw them. I'm so sick of combo guards. "Combo guard" is a euphemism for "can't play either position really well".
Yeah, unless their names are Cobbs or Jorge or Midgley.
Jorge was a combo guard, but not quite as good offensively as Cobbs or Midgely. He was an elite defender, which is becoming an endangered species in modern basketball, as teams are reluctant to play guards who don't score a lot, but who can really affect the outcome of a game by playing great defense. There just doesn't seem to be room any more in rotations for the KC Joneses, Slick Watts, or at Cal, the Bernie Simpsons, the Prentice McGruders, and the Jorge Gutierrezes. Joel Brown needs to keep working hard on his offense, both shooting and point guard instincts, or he won't play at the next level.
As for "combo guards", screw them. I'm so sick of combo guards. "Combo guard" is a euphemism for "can't play either position really well".
Yeah, unless their names are Cobbs or Jorge or Midgley.
Jorge was a combo guard, but not quite as good offensively as Cobbs or Midgely. He was an elite defender, which is becoming an endangered species in modern basketball, as teams are reluctant to play guards who don't score a lot, but who can really affect the outcome of a game by playing great defense. There just doesn't seem to be room any more in rotations for the KC Joneses, Slick Watts, or at Cal, the Bernie Simpsons, the Prentice McGruders, and the Jorge Gutierrezes. Joel Brown needs to keep working hard on his offense, both shooting and point guard instincts, or he won't play at the next level.
Cobbs was a good offensive player, but Midgley?
Jorge was the better offensive player and more athletic than Midgley
I remember Midgley as a hard nose player who gave it 110%, but he could not be the focus of the offense like Jorge was. He tried to do so in a few games, but not with good results
And there is no time where Midgley was ever a runner for POY (offense nor defense)
As for "combo guards", screw them. I'm so sick of combo guards. "Combo guard" is a euphemism for "can't play either position really well".
Yeah, unless their names are Cobbs or Jorge or Midgley.
Jorge was a combo guard, but not quite as good offensively as Cobbs or Midgely. He was an elite defender, which is becoming an endangered species in modern basketball, as teams are reluctant to play guards who don't score a lot, but who can really affect the outcome of a game by playing great defense. There just doesn't seem to be room any more in rotations for the KC Joneses, Slick Watts, or at Cal, the Bernie Simpsons, the Prentice McGruders, and the Jorge Gutierrezes. Joel Brown needs to keep working hard on his offense, both shooting and point guard instincts, or he won't play at the next level.
Cobbs was a good offensive player, but Midgley?
Jorge was the better offensive player and more athletic than Midgley
I remember Midgley as a hard nose player who gave it 110%, but he could not be the focus of the offense like Jorge was. He tried to do so in a few games, but not with good results
And there is no time where Midgley was ever a runner for POY (offense nor defense)
Moving Midgley off the ball to make room for Ubaka at pg was a mistake IMO. He needed the ball in his hands to be effective, and Ubaka ended up having more success off the ball.
As for "combo guards", screw them. I'm so sick of combo guards. "Combo guard" is a euphemism for "can't play either position really well".
Yeah, unless their names are Cobbs or Jorge or Midgley.
Jorge was a combo guard, but not quite as good offensively as Cobbs or Midgely. He was an elite defender, which is becoming an endangered species in modern basketball, as teams are reluctant to play guards who don't score a lot, but who can really affect the outcome of a game by playing great defense. There just doesn't seem to be room any more in rotations for the KC Joneses, Slick Watts, or at Cal, the Bernie Simpsons, the Prentice McGruders, and the Jorge Gutierrezes. Joel Brown needs to keep working hard on his offense, both shooting and point guard instincts, or he won't play at the next level.
Cobbs was a good offensive player, but Midgley?
Jorge was the better offensive player and more athletic than Midgley
I remember Midgley as a hard nose player who gave it 110%, but he could not be the focus of the offense like Jorge was. He tried to do so in a few games, but not with good results
And there is no time where Midgley was ever a runner for POY (offense nor defense)
Jorge was at one time "the focus of the offense"? I must have missed that period. I will admit, the year my second kid was born -- and it might've been right around then -- I only went to four home games, by far my fewest since the 1970s. Seriously, he was a very good player, but offense wasn't his strong suit. What were his numbers in his highest scoring/assists year?
Midgely: Good guy, pretty good player and tough as nails, but his Cal career pretty much hit its zenith when he hit that shot in the NCAAs as a freshman.
(I know nobody likes it when I don't gush enough about this board's favorite players -- ahem, Thurman, cough, cough -- so I'll shut up for a few minutes.)
As for "combo guards", screw them. I'm so sick of combo guards. "Combo guard" is a euphemism for "can't play either position really well".
Yeah, unless their names are Cobbs or Jorge or Midgley.
Jorge couldn't shoot when he first got here, but he improved. Still offense (be it passing or scoring was not what made him a conference Player of the Year).
As for "combo guards", screw them. I'm so sick of combo guards. "Combo guard" is a euphemism for "can't play either position really well".
Yeah, unless their names are Cobbs or Jorge or Midgley.
Jorge couldn't shoot when he first got here, but he improved. Still offense (be it passing or scoring was not what made him a conference Player of the Year).
As for "combo guards", screw them. I'm so sick of combo guards. "Combo guard" is a euphemism for "can't play either position really well".
Yeah, unless their names are Cobbs or Jorge or Midgley.
Jorge couldn't shoot when he first got here, but he improved. Still offense (be it passing or scoring was not what made him a conference Player of the Year).
As for "combo guards", screw them. I'm so sick of combo guards. "Combo guard" is a euphemism for "can't play either position really well".
Yeah, unless their names are Cobbs or Jorge or Midgley.
Jorge couldn't shoot when he first got here, but he improved. Still offense (be it passing or scoring was not what made him a conference Player of the Year).
Cobbs was a good offensive player that improved every year (unlike Midgley).
?
I'd kill for Richard Midgley right now. As I said, moving him off the ball was a mistake. He also played hurt much of the time.
Comparing current Cal basketball to the old days is a poor way to make an argument that a player was good.
Midgley simply wasn't all that good.
I guess that would depend on your definition of all that good. Solid offensively, all-conference as a frosh, one of Cals best perimeter defender as a senior, hit multiple game-winners, and a 4-year starter on a program that got to the tourney a couple of times. Was he a star? No. Would I take him as a combo-guard right now (the point of discussion)? Uh, yeah.
As for "combo guards", screw them. I'm so sick of combo guards. "Combo guard" is a euphemism for "can't play either position really well".
Yeah, unless their names are Cobbs or Jorge or Midgley.
Jorge couldn't shoot when he first got here, but he improved. Still offense (be it passing or scoring was not what made him a conference Player of the Year).
Cobbs was a good offensive player that improved every year (unlike Midgley).
?
I'd kill for Richard Midgley right now. As I said, moving him off the ball was a mistake. He also played hurt much of the time.
Comparing current Cal basketball to the old days is a poor way to make an argument that a player was good.
Midgley simply wasn't all that good.
I guess that would depend on your definition of all that good. Solid offensively, all-conference as a frosh, one of Cals best perimeter defender as a senior, hit multiple game-winners, and a 4-year starter on a program that got to the tourney a couple of times. Was he a star? No. Would I take him as a combo-guard right now (the point of discussion)? Uh, yeah.
Not to pile on Midgely, who you've made a pretty good case for, but do you maybe mean "all freshman team", rather than "all-conference as a frosh"?
As for "combo guards", screw them. I'm so sick of combo guards. "Combo guard" is a euphemism for "can't play either position really well".
Yeah, unless their names are Cobbs or Jorge or Midgley.
Jorge couldn't shoot when he first got here, but he improved. Still offense (be it passing or scoring was not what made him a conference Player of the Year).
Cobbs was a good offensive player that improved every year (unlike Midgley).
?
I'd kill for Richard Midgley right now. As I said, moving him off the ball was a mistake. He also played hurt much of the time.
Comparing current Cal basketball to the old days is a poor way to make an argument that a player was good.
Midgley simply wasn't all that good.
I guess that would depend on your definition of all that good. Solid offensively, all-conference as a frosh, one of Cals best perimeter defender as a senior, hit multiple game-winners, and a 4-year starter on a program that got to the tourney a couple of times. Was he a star? No. Would I take him as a combo-guard right now (the point of discussion)? Uh, yeah.
Not to pile on Midgely, who you've made a pretty good case for, but do you maybe mean "all freshman team", rather than "all-conference as a frosh"?
