After the Dayton Flyers held off Ball State, 77-69, Wednesday night at UD Arena, Cheeks and Isaac Jack were brought into the media room and eventually Jack was asked about the new tattoo that covers his massive left forearm.
The 6-foot-11 junior seemed a little self-conscious at first until Cheeks — who led the Flyers with 23 points, 12 rebounds and three steals — prodded him.
“It’s just a thing of home: The mountains. There’s some stuff of my family and growing up,” Jack said.
Later, when he was alone in an Arena hallway. he was comfortable enough to go into more detail and you sensed the pride he had in the portrait of his home in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island, British Columbia:
“This is Mount Arrowsmith, the local mountain. And this (the forest scene) leads up to it. And this is Sproat Lake.” He pointed to a seaplane on the lake and explained: “This is the water bomber. Not many people here probably know about it, but it’s a really big deal where I’m from. It fought forest fires. My dad was a part of all that, so this is to honor him.
“The flowers down here at the bottom are a daffodil and a rhododendron for my mom and my nana.
“And at the very bottom, ‘Compton’ is the road I grew up on.”
That tat gives you an idea just how far Jack has come to become a relied-on member of the Flyers (3-0). And that’s not just talking about the 2,600 miles it is between Port Alberni and UD Arena.
The images of woods and mountains define much of his early life. His family — dad Al; mom, Anna; brother Ethan; and himself — is into the outdoors and things especially Canadian.
He grew up snowboarding on Mount Washington and playing hockey with the Alberni Valley Minor Hockey Association. He didn’t start playing basketball until just five years ago.
Yet, Wednesday night, he was a key reason the Flyers staved off Ball State, which surged back after trailing 21-4 to start the game and missing its first 13 shots.
Although it was his first time in a UD uniform this season — he missed the first two games with what he said was a painful knee injury suffered in practice — Jack had his best game as a Flyer.
Twice he was brought in off the bench to spell starting post player Zed Key, who was in foul trouble.
UD’s other big-man option, 7-foot-1 freshman Amaël L’Etang, at times showed he’s still a work in progress — both playing defense and being physical inside — and that’s when coach Anthony Grant called on Jack, who’s in his third college season after a freshman year at Buffalo and last season at UD backing up DaRon “Deuce” Holmes II.
Jack had two points in just under five minutes of play in the first half, but then became a force midway through the second half. When Key picked up his fourth foul with 12:53 left, Jack came in. Ball State had momentum and was trailing by just eight points.
When Jack left 7 ½ minutes later, he had scored nine more points and the Flyers were back in command with a 15-point advantage.
He ended the game with 11 points on perfect 5-for-5 shooting from the floor.
“I just try to stay ready,” he said. “I don’t know if I’m going to get 10 minutes or 15 minutes or just five minutes, I just know whenever I get the opportunity, I have to try to do the best I can. I just want to play as hard as I can and help the team win.”
Afterward, Grant praised him:
“I thought Isaac did a really good job. With his size and physicality, he’s a valuable piece of what we do.
“When Zed got in foul trouble, Isaac was able to come in and fill the void. That’s what we want to see out of a veteran.
“He benefitted tonight from some of the guards making plays for him from an offensive standpoint. But I thought his imprint was bigger than just scoring. He’s able to shore up some things for us with his physicality.
“He understands his role. He accepts it and embraces it. That’s the making of a really great teammate: to believe in your role, embrace it and try to star in it.
“And Isaac checks all those boxes.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Remembering his roots
Jack’s mom gets a lot of credit for his athletic genes. Before she married, she was Anna Mosdell. She played basketball at Brigham Young University, was the two-time NCAA discus champion, is in the BYU Hall of Fame and was on the Canadian National Team.
A special education teacher, she’s been a successful track coach for over 30 years.
His dad though got a starring role on his son’s tat for his involvement with the water bombers, which originally were conceived as U.S. bombers in World War II.
Only a few were made, and they became Navy transports. After the war a couple were purchased by a consortium of Canadian timber companies, then converted into water bombers — with a 7,200 gallon tank added for water — and used to protect timber from forest fires on Vancouver Island.
“They were realty important, but they’ve retired them and moved them to a museum now,” Jack said.
The last one — the red and white Hawaii Martin Mars — lifted off from their home base on Lake Sproal on Vancouver Island to much fanfare this past August and eventually was flown to the BC Aviation Museum in North Saanich, B.C.
It was over the summer that Jack got his tattoo back home and wanted to especially honor his dad.
While he remembers his roots, he’s now immersed in his new world of basketball.
After playing briefly and in semi-obscurity at his local high school, he took a final prep year at the Fort Erie International Academy in Ontario, just across the border from Buffalo, where he started his college career.
As a freshman for the Bulls, he played in 31 games, started 20 and averaged 5.6 points and 4.3 rebounds.
He transferred to UD, he said, to further develop his hoops skills and also be surrounded ‘by a feeling of family, not just teammates.”
He went against Holmes, an eventual first-round draft pick in the NBA, every day in practice and came off the bench in all 33 games.
“I think going against Deuce every day made us both better,” he said. “I know he gave me a lot of confidence.”
‘We’ve got the perfect mix’
This season UD coaches have the luxury of three different big men, all of whom bring something different to the game.
The 6-foot-8 Key, who played four seasons at Ohio State before transferring here, was in his 124th college game Wednesday night, 52 of them as a starter.
L’Etang, the 19-year-old from Toulouse, France, is the tallest player ever to wear a Flyers’ uniform, but Ball State was just his third college game.
Jack is right in the middle of those two. Wednesday was his 65th college game.
“We’ve got the perfect mix,” he said
During the press conference he was asked if there was any more artwork to come. He said no and later, in private, he explained:
“No, unfortunately right now, I’ve got no more story to tell.”
But with a few more games like Wednesday’s, he’ll be able to fill that blank canvas on his right forearm with basketball memories.
Hoops on one arm, home on the other.
Now that would be something to: “Show ‘em!...Show ‘em!...Show ‘em!”
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