Michigan Wolverines basketball signee Zeb Jackson is adjusting to his new school. Jackson relocated from Maumee Valley High School, near Toledo, to Montverde Academy, in Florida, for his senior year.
He is now playing alongside other top talent, including the likes of four-star Arkansas commit Moses Moody, and guard Cade Cunningham, a Rivals.com five-star Oklahoma State commit, and No. 2 rated senior nationally.
The Wolverine talked with Jackson's assistant coach, Rae Miller, about the start to his senior campaign, and how he's preparing.
Montverde is coming off a big 76-56 win last night over Dematha, home of Rivals.com four-stars and U-M targets Hunter Dickinson and Terrance Williams. Jackson came off the bench and contributed six points in the game.
"He brought great energy to the team, nasty defense," Miller said. "There’s some areas that he knew that he had to continue to work at and to improve. He was diving on loose balls, getting 50/50 balls. He probably ended up with about four or five rebounds last night. He didn’t necessarily shoot the ball well from the field, but he made a ton of plays. He probably had four assists, six rebounds and whatever points he chipped in. He defended, for the most part, very well last night."
Montverde is 6-0 in the early going. Jackson, a 25-point per game scorer last year, is still adjusting to his new team.
"I’ve seen a lot of growth. I’ve seen a kid that really wants to improve his overall understanding and his play," Miller said. "I’ve seen a kid that has hit the weight room really hard, and that’s gained some weight and become stronger. I’ve seen a kid that has done a better job rebounding the basketball.
"I think that his offensive game will continue to return. He’s always been a really good offensive player. Now he’s adding all the pieces to his game, which is taking him some time; he needs some adjusting to it. And now, he’s playing with a bunch of really good players. So, this is also something that he’s adjusting to as he prepares for his time at Michigan."
Miller believes that the growing pains early on this season will help Jackson down the road.
"Obviously, it is an adjustment for every kid that comes to a level like this," the coach said. "He’s really working extremely hard, and it’s starting to show up on the floor.
"I think that’s one of the biggest reasons why he was looking to relocate this year. He realized that the level of competition that he will face in college, he was not necessarily facing that at his old environment. I think that’s one of the things — he wanted to be in a rigorous academic situation, and a rigorous basketball situation, so he chose to make the sacrifices to put himself in this situation.
There are some areas that Miller and the staff are trying to help Jackson get better in during the course of this season.
"Continue to get better defensively, continue to understand how the process works offensively within the team," Miller said. "Him being more vocal, as a point guard, and just being a guy that becomes comfortable being a leader."
The experience Jackson is getting at Montverde is structured similarly to what it will be like at U-M, Miller said.
"Watching Juwan when he played at Michigan, watching his pro career, watching him coach in the NBA and now watching the first few games he’s coached at Michigan, he’s obviously an up-tempo guy," he explained. "He’s a guy that really gets guys to buy in, and play extremely hard. I think that these things are definitely similar to the style that we play here.
"The way that [Montverde head coach] Coach [Kevin] Boyle is, is similar to how Juwan will be as he continues to grow in his coaching career. I think those things are really helping Zeb to prepare to walk into Michigan and have success."
---
• Talk about this article inside The Fort
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel
• Listen and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine
• Sign up for our newsletter, The Wolverine Now
• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @Balas_Wolverine, @EJHolland_TW, @AustinFox42, @JB_ Wolverine, Clayton Sayfie and @DrewCHallett
• Like us on Facebook
