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Could Notre Dame’s Demetrius Jackson Become A Hometown Hero?

By Chase Eyrich

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Notre Dame has lost their star point guard Eric Atkins to graduation. After three full seasons with the Irish, Atkins graduated and moved on, leaving Irish fans to wonder what about their point guard position. Well, a kid who left some big offers on the table to stay home and play for ND might be just be the answer. Last preseason I was all over the Demetrius Jackson bandwagon thinking that he was about to be one of the best recruits Notre Dame had picked up in a while. I remember watching the guy in high school just thinking. “Wow I only paid $5 to watch this kind of talent?” Needless to say, when it was leaked a few hours before his actual televised announcement on ESPN that he would be attending Notre Dame, I was more than ecstatic. Jackson was just shy of being a 5 star recruit and played in the McDonald’s High School All-American game.

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Coming into the 2013-2014 season, I really thought Jackson was going to be one of the best guys on the court all season. A guy that you could put in when coach Mike Brey needed a little extra push for his team, but I think it’s safe to say Jackson never really played up to his true potential. Actually, he never even got close to it in my mind. Even though his high school team, Mishawaka Marian, never really had exceptional success, besides for 2012 when he led them to the Indiana 3A semi state, Jackson was without a doubt a phenomenal player and you could always tell he knew the game of basketball and what he needed to do with the ball in his hands. So let me be the first to tell you, what you saw out of Jackson last season was not what he is capable of. In fact, I get chills just thinking about what he could do this season.

Jackson threw away his number 23 jersey and swapped it for the number 11 which must have worked because he is now the QB of the team, as even Coach Brey has said multiple times this off-season. This year’s offense is going through him and you’re going to like the result of it.

During the off-season coach Brey took the squad to Italy to play in a league against some Italian professional teams. Not only did the Irish go 4-0, but Jackson came out and dominated. Jackson earned his starting position this off-season and it sure looked like it in ND’s opening exhibition game. Yes, it was only an exhibition game against Minnesota-Duluth (D-II), but  Jackson looked great and showed he could be could be the most impressive player on the Irish roster. Overall he looked great, from his passing, to his ability to score his defense, and the way he was able to run the point guard position.

The ACC needs to be on the lookout for this guy cause he’ looking to make some noise. With Jackson not having to take a back seat to Atkins anymore and Brey giving him the keys to the offense, I think were are going to see him blow up and play to his full potential. If you don’t like him, I suggest you not watch the Irish this season because with Skylar Diggins in Tulsa, the South Bend might just have a new hometown hero.