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Lewis Jackson on Illini

Posted by: Paul Klee

Tuesday, December 30, 2008 9:37 AM

For all of Illinois' recruiting successes -- and there have been many over the past 25 months -- I've always held that they missed one with Lewis Jackson. Illinois had its reasons for not recruiting the Decatur Eisenhower product. (Yes, he was offered a scholarship, but he wasn't really recruited.) And those reasons make sense. But not enough sense. He was dynamic with the Panthers, and he's been dynamic with the Boilers, who are 7-0 with the PG in the starting lineup.

Caught up with Lewis Jackson yesterday. It was the first time I've spoken to him since we wrote this story on the N-G All-State Player of the Year. When he went home for Christmas, Jackson said, he heard all about one game, in particular: Purdue's visit to Illinois on Feb. 8.

"Everybody tells me they're going to the game over there," Jackson said by phone Monday. "I understand it's a big deal because I'm from Illinois. But I have to focus like it's just another team. I can't worry about playing Illinois or trying to prove something for myself."

- Jackson said he's watched Illinois play live only once - "The Detroit-Mercy game" - and was complimentary of their fast start (12-1).

"They're doing a great job," he said.

- Jackson has had plenty of company in West Lafayette. His mom, a terrific woman that helped us with the All-State story, has yet to miss a home game.

- To motivate and provide some leadership for Jackson, the Purdue coaches paired Jackson with hard-working junior Chris Kramer in offseason weightlifting sessions.

"That was better for me because I went through it with him. He's always working hard, never takes a day off," Jackson said. "He helped me with getting comfortable too."

(Watch our interview with Chris Kramer here. It's interesting stuff; he talks about the leg condition that gives him "slap feet," where he loses all feeling in his feet, and how it caused him to roll down a hill because the pain was so great.)

- Matt Painter plugged Lewis Jackson into the starting lineup for his first college game. He's started six more games since, providing another gear the Boilers didn't have last season. I expect he'll be in the starting lineup tonight, as you want to play the guy with a chip on his shoulder.

"I honestly didn't know if I'd be starting this year," Jackson said. "It wasn't a huge thing to me, because we've got a great group of guards. I just figured if I started or came off the bench, I wanted to help out. Anybody can start on any given night. It's great in practice because you have to compete every day. You can't take off plays. Everybody's as good as the next guy."

- His Christmas haul?

"I didn't really ask for much. I'm working on getting a car for next year, so I have to help out with that (cost)," Jackson said. "My cousin has a truck. I'm hoping he'll sell it to me."

- When I asked Jackson about playing Illinois, he deferred. But there's some added motivation there, and I'd be more worried if there wasn't.

"It's going to be fun. It's my first Big Ten game in college," he said. "It's just going to be a lot of fun. I'm going to take it like any other game."

- We're aware that Illinois had its reasons for not going after Lewis Jackson. And there's hardly a guarantee he would have committed to Illinois if there was a push on their end. But he's not clear on their reasoning.

"I really don't know why they didn't want me," he said. "Maybe because you had Chester Frazier coming back. He had a four- or five-man rotation of guards. I really don't know. I don't know if it was my height (he's listed at 5-foot-9). I know there were rumors that people thought I wasn't going to qualify; maybe they believed that. I don't know. Only they know."

So there's one of several storylines within tonight's game, and it's a big one for Illinois.

- Storylines and prediction.

- 5 Questions heading into the Big Ten season.

- We'll have a Live Report from Mackey Arena this evening, so check back on HQ. Thanks.

pklee@news-gazette.com