Lafayette High School’s Jackson Davis is one of the main reasons the Nike EYBL’s Kentucky Travelers will be making an appearance in the upcoming Peach Jam in July and he has agreed to write about his experience with the team.
He also talks about how his recruiting is going and which teams are contacting him and keeping tabs on him.
If you have been around Nation of Blue before, you know Jackson isn’t new to this writing thing, as he has written several entries into his own recruiting journal.
Here is his latest on his team, the Peach Jam and maybe being President.
I have been blessed to play on some really good AAU teams in the past, but Travelers Basketball is an organization unlike anything Kentucky has seen before as far as high school basketball goes. I can say with confidence that this is not AAU. It’s the next level above that. Thank you coach Charlie and coach Rines for recruiting me into the fold. You were right, this is awesome.
We compete on the Nike EYBL Circuit, which consists of the 40 US and Canadian, exclusively Nike travel teams across the nation, where day in and day out we play against the best teams and players in some of the nicest venues from coast to coast. It is broken into 2 sessions. The first of which just ended was league play. The second, which starts July 10, is the Peach Jam, the most prestigious summer basketball tournament in the nation. Only 24 of the 40 Nike teams qualify for the Peach Jam championship, and this year, with a record of 9-9, we managed to punch our ticket to Atlanta on the last day. Going to the Big Dance!
One thing I really like about the EYBL is that there are a set number of games you play each weekend, and you know exactly who you are playing so you can prepare accordingly. This year the locations for session 1 were LA, Hampton Beach VA, Dallas TX, and Minneapolis MN. While there, we got to experience a bit of what each city had to offer, but we were there first and foremost to take care of business on the court.
It’s a blast hanging out with the team. Everyone seems to always have jokes. There is never a dull moment, whether it’s a 7AM car ride to a game, or 10PM when you’re in bed trying to get some sleep, someone always has something to say. You haven’t really laughed until you’ve seen Ray (Spalding) do his impersonation of a fired up coach Mahorn after a game. Or Beetle (James Bolden) make cat and dog noises to random passersby at the airport. Hilarious. My side hurts right now just thinking about it. All of the boys are really active and don’t like to sit much. They are always wandering around or trying to find somewhere to go, whereas me on the other hand, I’m perfectly fine relaxing all day.
Almost forgot; We have a few Travelers Basketball t-shirts left for sale. Just ask me or another Traveler to hook you up. $20 bucks. We are not allowed to give out our limited edition shoes, though, EYBL players only.
Sorry…
Recruiting is starting to pick up again. I only played 1 full game during the live period due to injury, and some schools have expressed an interest in seeing me at full strength in July. Tennessee, Fla St, Memphis, VCU, Marquette, Vandy, and Kansas St to name a few. Also, I picked up an offer from coach Tubby Smith at Texas Tech. Our families have had a basketball connection for more than 30 years. He even recruited my dad back in the day! Looking forward to seeing him again this fall.
I have also gotten some attention from the Ivy League, like, all of them. Harvard, Princeton, Brown, etc… and I am going to seriously consider the offers. Who knows what opportunities after basketball might come with a degree from any of those schools. I could even be president someday. Haha.
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