Justin Jackette: Manhattan grad can hear hoops’ call
Mar. 21, 2006
*** begin quote ***
Justin Jackette will never forget how the last day of his college basketball career started.
The former Iona Prep star was asked by Manhattan College teammate Jared Johnson to be quiet — before Jackette had awakened.
It was shortly after 6 a.m. on March 21, 2003 — the day after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq — and Johnson mumbled something in their Boston hotel room that woke up Jackette.
“Shut up, man,” Jackette remembers Johnson telling him. “You’ve been saying something about the war. What are you talking about? I’m trying to get some sleep.”
Actually, Johnson had heard Jackette’s voice on the TV that was left on overnight. Jackette was speaking during the Jaspers’ press conference at the FleetCenter after their practice the day before 14th-seeded Manhattan fell to No. 3 seed and eventual champion Syracuse 76-65 in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.
“A reporter asked what it was like playing an NCAA tournament game with the war going on,” Jackette said. “They led off the 2 a.m. (ESPN) ‘SportsCenter’ with my answer. I was talking about the analogy coaches make when they say, ‘It’s going to be a war.’ They first showed a video of a fighter plane with my voice talking over that, and then switched to me on the podium at the press conference.”
It was Jackette’s only NCAA tournament appearance in his three years at Manhattan. (He joined the Jaspers after transferring from William & Mary.)
*** and ***
“But it’s been a couple years since I’ve been out of it, so I got the ‘Get away from it for a while’ out of my system,” Jackette said. “Now that the tournament has come around, I miss it. I never thought I’d say I want to go to practice again — that was my least favorite part of playing. But now I wish I could go out and practice one more time.”
*** end quote ***
Jackette, Justin [MC2003]
# – # – # – # – # 2012-Jan-20 @ 08:18
