March 24, 2004
By PAUL NEWBERRY
AP Sports Writer
ATLANTA (AP) – Jarrett Jack usually has a ball in his hands, whether he’s dribbling by a defender, picking off a pass or just chatting with reporters in a nice, comfy room.
Bounce, bounce, bounce.
Around the legs and back again.
“I’ve always got a ball,” Jack said with a smile.
He’s dribbling right in sync with Georgia Tech’s proud point guard heritage, a worthy successor to Mark Price, Kenny Anderson, Travis Best and his favorite player, Stephon Marbury.
“Yes, he belongs, because he respects tradition,” coach Paul Hewitt said. “It’s not just his ability level. There’s some guys with great ability who are jerks, who don’t know what came before them. But I guarantee you this: If Mark Price walked in this room, Jarrett Jack would give him the respect he deserves.”
Jack has earned plenty of respect, too, leading the Yellow Jackets (25-9) to the NCAA round of 16 for the first time since 1996. The season might have ended last weekend if not for the 6-foot-3 sophomore, who took things into his own hands when Boston College led by a point in the final minute.
With the offense struggling, Hewitt gave the ball to Jack and told him to make something happen. He found a seam through the middle of the lane, drove past his defender and drew a foul. Then he stepped to the line and calmly sank two free throws with 25 seconds remaining.
Boston College still had a chance to win, but Jack came up big at the defensive end. With a textbook move, he switched off his own man, picked up another man and stepped in to intercept the pass. He then took off the other way, sealing the 57-54 victory with a thunderous dunk.
“He’s doing a great job this year,” said Marbury, now with the New York Knicks. “The thing I like most about him is he’s running the team. He’s scoring, hitting big shots, doing all the things that make them win.”
Jack isn’t exactly cut from the same mold as Price, Anderson and Marbury.
In the freewheeling style of former Georgia Tech coach Bobby Cremins, the point guard wasn’t just someone who passed the ball to others – he was expected to handle a major share of the scoring. Jack, on the other hand, averages 12.4 points per game in a more traditional point guard role.
“I start out wanting to dish the ball off, trying to get the other guys open,” he said. “I begin looking for my shots as the game goes on.”
Not surprisingly, Cremins and the Yellow Jackets fell on hard times when their amazing pipeline at the point dried up. The longtime coach was forced into retirement in 2000, having missed the NCAA tournament his final four years.
“Very rarely do you go anywhere without a really good point guard,” Cremins said.
Along came Jack, who was mesmerized by Marbury’s style and wanted to follow him at Georgia Tech. He even asked to wear No. 3 – Marbury’s old number.
“Stephon Marbury was my favorite player,” Jack said. “I knew about all those guys from the past. That’s one of the things that sold me on playing here.”
Jack moved right into the lineup as a freshman, but not without some growing pains. He had a tendency to sulk after messing things up. He had to learn to deal with failure.
Hewitt has noticed a major transformation from one year to the next.
“When one possession doesn’t go his way, instead of dropping his head, he says, ‘OK, let’s get on to the next play,”‘ the coach said. “That’s the biggest difference. He’s really grown up.”
Jack isn’t ready to proclaim himself one of the greatest point guards in Georgia Tech history. He knows who came before him.
“I’m not at that point in my career,” he said. “Give me a couple of years and maybe I’ll be all right.”
Flying back to Atlanta after the victory over Boston College, Jack sat glued in his seat, watching tapes of Nate Archibald and Mark Jackson on his tiny DVD player.
“I tapped him on the shoulder and said, ‘What do you know about Tiny Archibald?”‘ Hewitt recounted. “He said, ‘Coach, I know who he was.’ That’s just the way he is. He respects what came before him.”
