Leave it to dad to keep his son, the Big Ten recruit, grounded.
Not that Yorkville’s Jason Jakstys needs it.
A 6-foot-10 senior forward who signed in early November with Illinois and coach Brad Underwood, Jakstys has a high ceiling. That’s a reference to his basketball potential and certainly not his hat size.
On a night his son scored a season-high 28 points and became the program’s seventh member of the 1,000-point club in a 57-50 win over Southwest Prairie West leader West Aurora, Dr. Tomas Jakstys, M.D. gently poked the bear.
It came postgame, after Jason was presented a commemorative ball, and brought a smile to the son’s face as the doctor and his wife, Mary Beth, greeted their son.
“Gotta do better on my free throws,” Jason said. “My dad walks up to me after the game and says, ‘You better get home and get shooting in the driveway and shoot some free throws or something.'”
His 5-for-11 performance from the line Thursday night was about the only criticism the younger Jakstys might merit.
It was a focused Jakstys taking the court in a playoff atmosphere, adding 15 rebounds, four blocked shots and a pair of assists for the host Foxes (13-8, 6-4).
Guard Kaevian Johnson and forward Jory Boley, both seniors, added eight points each for Yorkville.
Junior forward Terrence Smith returned to West Aurora’s lineup and led the way with 17 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots, but two regulars were sidelined for not meeting “program standards,” coach Michael Fowler said.
Senior guards CJ Savage and Jordan Brooks added 14 and 13 points, respectively, for the Blackhawks (14-8, 8-2).
Feeds from Brooks led to three dunks by Smith for West Aurora, still holding a one-game lead over Oswego East.
“We anticipated Terrence being back and had to prepare for him,” Yorkville coach John Holakovsky said. “He’s really good. Some of those dunks are unbelievable.”
Jakstys topped 1,000 points at 6:04 of the third quarter on a two-handed dunk after Kaevian Johnson “quick pushed” a pass to him off a ball tipped to the corner. It extended Yorkville’s lead to 11 points.
“We were trying to get ourselves out of a hole from there,” Fowler said.
Brooks said of Jakstys, “He’s a helluva player — respect to him. He’s a great player.”
There are doubters, however.
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Over the course of this season, I’ve been asked at least weekly, “Do you think Jason Jakstys is good enough to play in the Big Ten?”
For what it’s worth, my answer is yes. I’m a believer.
“He was Big Ten tonight,” Fowler said.
Holakovsky, whose team was short-handed earlier in the season in a 55-33 loss to West Aurora, said his team wanted to make a statement after missing two starters and losing a third to injury during the first meeting.
“We were embarrassed,” Holakovsky said. “That was a brutal game for us.”
Jakstys said his main concern is the team.
“I’m not really worried about myself, more about the team since this is Yorkville’s year,” he said. “This is probably one of the best teams we’ve had in a really long time.”
The veteran group looks to win the program’s first regional title since 2005.
It will be a challenge.
“Our sectional is really a beast,” Holakovsky said of a loaded Class 4A field at East Aurora. “There might be a couple really good teams that don’t win a (postseason) game.
“We believe in who we were hyped up to be in the preseason. We had a rough start going 3-5, but we’re 10-3 since. We believe in ourselves.”
And he believes in his team’s leader.
“I tell everybody Jason’s a Big Ten player for a reason — he’s really good,” Holakovsky said. “I think he gets slighted more than most D-I players, for some reason.
“I think most people would take him on their team, I feel confident in that.”
No argument here.