Donovan Jackson ready to be an Iowa State men's basketball leader

WEST DES MOINES — Things will be different, and the approach the Iowa State men's basketball team makes this offseason has to reflect that.

The void left by the likes of Monte Morris, Naz Mitrou-Long, Matt Thomas and Deonte Burton won't be filled without bumps in the road. Whatever made the Cyclones successful the last several seasons will have to be retooled to fit the new, younger group.

In only his second season with the program, senior point guard Donovan Jackson is leading the charge among players.

'We have to approach it as a different team, because we're a totally different team than what we were last year,' Jackson said. 'I think this year we're just going to be a hungry team. Hungry, but we're going to be very humble obviously. I think everybody is pretty confident in their talents.'

At 6-foot-2 and 175 pounds, Jackson spent the bulk of last season playing a reserve role, averaging 6.4 points and 1.2 assists per game. He carved out his niche in his ability to hit big shots and averaged 45.4 percent from beyond the arc — he hit the game-clinching 3 at Kansas.

'Donovan Jackson, the most appropriate way I can say this is he has some huge rocks,' said Georges Niang, who was in Iowa recently. 'He's big time, he's clutch.'

Almost as important as his on-court production was his observation of Morris. Jackson knew his time with Morris would be brief, so while he continued to develop his own skill set, he picked up on a few things that made Morris a tough matchup for people.

'Living with Monte and playing with him all the time, he just showed me how to stay consistent with my attitude and stuff like that,' Jackson said. 'How not to get too high, not to get too low, but stay in cruise. I think that's what I'm pretty much learning right now.'

Jackson was a top-10 junior college recruit out of Iowa Western and was used to being the go-to guy on his roster. He averaged 15.3 points, 2.9 assists and 2.3 rebounds before a broken hand ended his sophomore season.

At Iowa State, his role was more specific while playing behind a number of seniors. Jackson, junior Nick Weiler-Babb and sophomore Solomon Young are the only returners with significant Division I experience while transfers and freshmen populate the rest of the roster.

All eyes will be on Jackson, but that isn't a daunting prospect. It's one the Milwaukee, Wis., native has been used to in other stops throughout his basketball career.

'It's cool to me,' Jackson said. 'I always looked at myself as a leader and I think I set the tone for everybody just by how hard I work and stuff like that. Everybody just follows the lead.'

While there is plenty of uncertainty that exists about the upcoming season, one of the encouraging pieces of the puzzle is how well Jackson played in the final 16 games last season.

He averaged 8.1 points, shot 55.6 percent from the field — 58.5 percent from 3 — and, in the last 10 games, made 13-of-19 3-pointers. This summer's mission has been focused on finishing at the rim, pullup jumpers and running floaters.

'Everybody (on the team) has the mind-set of playing at a high level,' Jackson said. 'Everybody is ready to play at all times and stuff like that, so I don't think we're going to drop off, not one bit.'

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