In the latest episode of Locked On Women’s Basketball, Hunter Cruse, Em Adler and Lincoln Shafer discuss the WNBA prospects for Tennessee forward Rickea Jackson. Jackson, a 6’2 fifth-year senior, is currently averaging 18.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 30.1 minutes per game.
Em explains what she learned about Jackson from an exhibition game Tennessee played against Team USA on Nov. 5:
“The thing with her as a prospect is it sort of starts and ends with the scoring. And I mean that both in a complimentary way and in a sort of not-so-great way. Because what we’ve seen for years is her ability to get a bucket is excellent. She can create out of iso; she can pretty much create against anyone and she can get … to somewhere that she’s comfortable and really hit a bucket, whether that’s on the second play of the game or that’s in the clutch. …
“And I think when it comes to having that primary skill, but not having a lot of ancillary skills to complement that … the thing about the USA game was it sort of answered those questions in the way of, hey, what if it just doesn’t matter? Because … she took over basically an entire quarter when she needed to.”
Related reading: Who’s Next — The Next’s 2024 WNBA Draft Board, V1.0
Lincoln talks about what Jackson might bring, and where she might struggle, defensively in the WNBA:
“She’s long. She’s a very fluid athlete. She’s toolsy, and … she’s shown herself to be a good rebounder, which is certainly a skill that adds to your defense. But I have some questions about her help instincts and several other important things for someone who’s going to nominally be playing as a big wing in the WNBA to play defense in the paint a little bit.”
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