February 3, 2024
Locked On Women’s Basketball: How Rickea Jackson projects as a 2024 WNBA Draft prospect
By The Next
'She can pretty much create against anyone' — even Team USA
In the latest episode of Locked On Women’s Basketball, Hunter Cruse, Em Adler and Lincoln Shafer discuss the WNBA prospects for Tennessee forward Rickea Jackson. Jackson, a 6’2 fifth-year senior, is currently averaging 18.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 30.1 minutes per game.
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Em explains what she learned about Jackson from an exhibition game Tennessee played against Team USA on Nov. 5:
“The thing with her as a prospect is it sort of starts and ends with the scoring. And I mean that both in a complimentary way and in a sort of not-so-great way. Because what we’ve seen for years is her ability to get a bucket is excellent. She can create out of iso; she can pretty much create against anyone and she can get … to somewhere that she’s comfortable and really hit a bucket, whether that’s on the second play of the game or that’s in the clutch. …
“And I think when it comes to having that primary skill, but not having a lot of ancillary skills to complement that … the thing about the USA game was it sort of answered those questions in the way of, hey, what if it just doesn’t matter? Because … she took over basically an entire quarter when she needed to.”
Related reading: Who’s Next — The Next’s 2024 WNBA Draft Board, V1.0
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Lincoln talks about what Jackson might bring, and where she might struggle, defensively in the WNBA:
“She’s long. She’s a very fluid athlete. She’s toolsy, and … she’s shown herself to be a good rebounder, which is certainly a skill that adds to your defense. But I have some questions about her help instincts and several other important things for someone who’s going to nominally be playing as a big wing in the WNBA to play defense in the paint a little bit.”
Related content: Locked On Women’s Basketball: How Jacy Sheldon projects as a 2024 WNBA Draft prospect
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