Isaiah Jackson turning heads at practice

Isaiah Jackson is one recruit from Kentucky’s 2020 class that has not been talked about a lot. Guys such as BJ Boston, Terrence, Devin Askew have all garnered more attention, and even Olivier Sarr, Keion Brooks, and Jacob Toppin have been talked about more from a big man perspective.

But according to Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio, four-star freshman forward Isaiah Jackson Is turning heads and practice and may have been severely undervalued.

Jackson is a tall, lanky, athletic rim-runner who can block shots about as good as anyone as Kentucky has had previously. The 6-10 forward from Waterford, Michigan has already been given a first-round draft pick grade by 247 Sports’ Jerry Meyer, and a comparison to Jordan Bell, a key part of the Oregon Ducks’ 2017 Final Four run that saw them nearly advance to a national championship game. Bell was a tall, athletic, rim-runner who could block shots.

Travis Graf, one of the best scouts and recruiting analysts in the game surrounding the Kentucky Wildcats even backed up Jones’ statement that Jackson is a lot better than people realized.

In addition, new assistant coach Jai Lucas singled out Jackson during a Monday Zoom meeting with the media.

“I mean, he is a special, special shot blocker. I think he is probably one of the ones that is going to surprise a lot of people this season, just how he’s been playing and his development from the last time that I saw him and where he is today,” said Lucas. “I think he is a name that people will start to talk about and mention as we start playing games.”

Last week, Kyle Tucker of The Athletic said Jackson has been impressing to the point that it looks like he could be one and done.

“I’ll have more on this later, but Jackson is seriously turning heads in practice. People just absolutely raving about him. To the point that I’m not sure anyone is expecting Jackson to be around next year. So it’s good they’ll have (Daimion) Collins. And yes, very similar. Not sure Collins has the offensive game yet, which has been a big surprise with Jackson, but he will be an elite shot blocker.”

Has Kentucky found themselves another five-star talent that was rated too low? Jackson certainly seems to have one-and-done written all over him.

Follow our Twitter page and then go ‘like’ our Facebook page for the latest Kentucky Wildcats news and views.