Recruiting Report: Jackson Joens (2018)
One of the state’s most intriguing 2018 prospects, Xavier wing Jackson Joens continues to reel in some Division I interest, and should have some offers by summer’s end. He’s being scouted by both Division I and Division II schools, and…
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Continue ReadingOne of the state’s most intriguing 2018 prospects, Xavier wing Jackson Joens continues to reel in some Division I interest, and should have some offers by summer’s end.
He’s being scouted by both Division I and Division II schools, and has plans to attend games via recruiting visits throughout the winter.
“UNI has come to a couple of my games and has invited me to a couple of games, and I’m going to go up there. I think I’m going to head to Drake for a game pretty soon. And there’s been a couple D2 schools, like Upper Iowa and Winona State that have invited me up to games,” said Joens.
“And then North Dakota State and South Dakota State have been contacting me a little bit just through letters and stuff.”
The 6-foot-5 sharpshooter says that the level of scholarship offers he gets isn’t as important as simply finding a place that’s the best fit.
“I’m just hoping to play good basketball and hoping that a school will give me a scholarship, it would be a huge blessing to play at the next level no matter where, Division I, Division II or Division III,” said Joens.
“It’s just the fit, if I visit a school and I love it, I’ll go there. My mom always says ‘if you see yourself going there without playing basketball, then would you still there?’” – so that puts it into perspective for me.”
After playing a pivotal role in helping the Saints win a 3A state title last season, Joens is now one of the team’s captains.
He’s averaging 10.4 points and 3.5 rebounds per game so far this season.
“I’ve been working on my one-dribble pull-up and two-dribble pull-up, because that’s what I’ll have to do a lot of in college,” said Joens.
“I’m kind of like a glue guy; I just do whatever I can to help the team win. I try and score the ball whenever I get a touch. And this year is different than last year because I have to be more of a leader, and I’m a captain this year so I really have to step up and be a leader.”
The Saints have started the season with a disappointing 4-9 record, but Joens says they’ve started to figure some things out.
“I think we figured out that no one really cares that we won state the previous year, they just want to be at us,” he said. “And we figured out that we really have to bring it every night