Stats: 32.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 3.0 apg

College: Memphis

The Lowdown: Memphis has long been a sleeping giant for hoops talent and Jackson is considered one of the city’s best ever. The Gatorade State Player of the Year and Class AAA Mr. Basketball finished with 3,451 career points — No. 2 on the Shelby County all-time list behind Melrose’s Bobby Smith, who netted 3,640 between 1962-65. Jackson led White Station to three consecutive state title games, including the 2009 state title when he scored 82 tournament points in three games.

Also, 2010 Memphis signee Jelan Kendrick was named to the ESPN RISE All-American second team. 

Fifth-year players like Will Barton are not eligible for the ESPN RISE All-American teams.

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A MISSING PIECE

First, let’s start with an obvious option. You will notice that one name missing from the potential carry-over scholarship players from last season is junior shooting guard Roburt Sallie. If Sallie were to return, he would be a 5th year senior due to his time at City College of San Francisco and transfer from Nebraska. Sallie is reportedly on track to graduate and head coach Josh Pastner has stated that Sallie is evaluating his options and the decision is in his hands.

With the possibilities of Joe Jackson, Jelan Kendrick, and Antonio Barton at point guard for next season, Williams would have likely shared time between the point and off-guard. Now that Williams has declared for the draft, the Tigers have plenty of guys to make up minutes on the wing; but what they have in players, they lack in experience. This is where a guard like Roburt Sallie comes into play. Sallie is an adept three-point threat and has been a part of a lot of big games, helping the Tigers single-handedly win a few along the way. Sallie can provide a few of the intangibles that Williams would have provided with a return (experience and toughness mainly), so this is a scenario that is very plausible. Expect a decision relatively quickly on Sallie’s return.

POTENTIAL SURPRISES

Head coach Josh Pastner has hinted at the possibility of another big-man joining the squad for weeks now. Most recently, at a Tigers Athletic’s Luncheon, Pastner stated that they are keeping their options open, including transfers from other programs. In the majority of cases, a transfer player would have to sit out his first year (2010-2011 in this case), beginning eligibility the second season at the new university (2011-2012). Theoretically, bringing in a frontline transfer solves two problems. It provides an extra player to go up against the eligible big-men in practice while also filling a need in the 2011 recruiting class. Does this mean this is the set route that will be taken? No.

Although a transfer is a strong possibility, the Memphis staff will continue to evaluate members of the 2010 high school, prep, and junior college crop. Coaching changes have happened at an alarming rate this offseason and, as a result, so have decommitments. One example of this is 6′7″ power forward Marcus Thornton out of Westlake High School in Atlanta, Georgia. Thornton recently decommited from Clemson after head coach Oliver Purnell jumped ship for the vacant gig at DePaul.

By using Thornton as an example, the implication is not that Memphis will get a commitment from the Georgia forward. He is simply an example of the type of player who will become available for evaluation by the Memphis staff. Pastner and staff will evaluate the options available, taking only one player they feel like fits the needs of this Memphis squad best, whether that be a high school, prep, JUCO, or transfer player.

Go ahead and bookmark the guys over at GoHSSN.com. They will be streaming a good number of this summer’s AAU tournaments along with high school and prep events and games once their season starts again next fall.

In the confines of the Portland Trailblazers’ practice facility, the Nike Hoop Summit has commenced, putting some of the top prep basketball prospects State-side and internationally on display. Prior to the official Nike Hoops Summit game on Saturday, April 10th, 2010, these basketball prodigies are put through a handful of practices to acclimate them with their new teammates. 2010 Memphis commitment Will Barton, who is one of ten players on the USA roster, flew into Portland yesterday and had a chance to take in his first full practice this morning.

“This is the first practice, just getting in the swing of things,” Barton said. “We’re just getting a feel for what guys do and don’t like to do.”
 

In addition to Barton, the full USA roster includes Harrison Barnes, Reggie Bullock, Kyrie Irving, Brandon Knight, Kendall Marshall, Terrence Jones, Patric Young, and Jared Sullinger. The head coach is Bob Cimmino and Rich Gray is the assistant coach. The team’s first practice was this morning, giving Barton a chance to prove right away that, despite being left out of the McDonald’s All-American game, he belongs to be mentioned with the elite of the elite.
 

“It’s a great honor to play for Team USA because this is bigger than high school ball and AAU. You’re representing your country and you’re about to show how good you are and how good your country is. I’m real excited and can’t wait to play that game. I think my game is going to translate well. There’s really not that big of a difference. You just have to be able to play ball.”
 

Will Barton looked at ease with the rest of his fellow teammates, showing that he could be relaxed while on the court. Flashing a contagious smile, Barton seems to be thoroughly enjoying his experience in Portland this week. Barton put on a show with his athletic & scoring abilities that continue to impress those that follow him. He displayed strong ball handling skills while still being aggressive and throwing down the occasional jaw-dropping dunk. Barton also exhibited leadership qualities by being one of the more vocal players during Team USA’s first morning practice.

After the Nike Hoops Summit this week, Barton will travel to New York, NY for the 2010 Jordan Brand All-American game at Madison Square Garden. After completing his two all-star appearances, Barton will head back home to Baltimore, MD before making his way to Memphis.

“I plan on coming down to Memphis in June to take some summer classes,” said Barton. ”I’m trying to get that figured out right now.”

While Barton is showcasing his game in front of the nation over the next few weeks, he is also anticipating his freshman year as a Tiger. Barton said: ”I’m very excited. We’ve got the number one recruiting class in the country. We keep in touch with each other on a regular basis. All of us are real excited to get down there and show the Memphis people what we’ve got. Hopefully we’ll be going into that National Championship. We want to make a run at it.”

Barton Fools TigerNation

Memphis fans were on edge when Barton posted that he had decommitted from Memphis on his Facebook status on April 1st. Barton mentioned being let out of his letter of intent. He was surprised to find many fans didn’t find his joke funny. “Yeah, I didn’t think it was going to be that serious,” Barton said.

“I saw a lot of players around the country pulling April Fools jokes on their Facebooks and Twitter, and someone at my school actually gave me the idea so I just went along with it. I thought it would be a little game, maybe a couple people take it seriously but I didn’t want people to really think I wanted to decommit and get out of my letter of intent. I had people writing on my Twitter and Facebook asking ‘Is this true?’ and ‘How can you do this?’ and I was like, ‘It’s a joke, man.’”

Stay Tuned

As the week progresses at the Nike Hoops Summit, Memphis Roar will continue to bring you coverage on Will Barton’s performance in practice.