WATCH: Isaiah Jackson sends in one-handed alley-oop in Summer League action
Former Kentucky Wildcat Isaiah Jackson made one of the highlight plays of Sunday afternoon in NBA Summer League action for the Indiana Pacers, when he caught a lob from former Arizona Wildcat Bennedict Mathurin. Check out the beautiful lob from Mathurin as Jackson goes up and gets it with one hand and throws it in a few feet away from the hoop.
Jackson had another alley-oop earlier this year against the Golden State Warriors. In that game, he stuffed the stat sheet with 15 points-his career-high, seven rebounds, and three steals.
In high school, Jackson bounced around to a number of different schools. His freshman year, he played for Lutheran Northwest High School (Rochester Hills, Michigan). The Michigan native then transferred to Old Redford Academy (Detroit, Michigan) as a sophomore. As a junior, Jackson competed for SPIRE Academy (Geneva, Ohio) to team up with LaMelo Ball and his old teammate at Old Redford Academy, Rocket Watts. There, he averaged 14.9 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. For his senior year, Jackson transferred to Waterford Mott High (Waterford, Michigan). There, he averaged 19.1 points, 13 rebounds, and 7.7 blocks per game. He was named to the Jordan Brand Classic roster.
According to the On3 Consensus Rankings for the 2020 cycle, the 6-foot-8, 185-pound forward was rated as a five-star prospect and the No. 34 player in America. He chose the Kentucky Wildcats over offers from the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Syracuse Orange.
On Dec. 1, 2020, Jackson tallied seven points, 12 rebounds, and a career-high eight blocks in a loss to the No. 7 ranked Kansas Jayhawks in the Champions Classic. It was the most blocks in a single-game by a Kentucky player since Willie Cauley-Stein in 2013. During his freshman season with the Wildcats, he averaged 8.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, and led the SEC with 2.6 blocks per game. Jackson was named to the SEC All-Defensive team and the SEC All-Freshman team for the 2020-2021 season.
He was selected with the No. 22 pick in the first round of the 2021 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers, and they traded him to the Indiana Pacers. Last season, he averaged 8.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks.