There was no wild upset of the Wildcats this time.
Isaac Jack of Port Alberni, a stout forward with presence at six-foot-11, 250 pounds and a size 16 sneaker, had a promising sophomore journey with the University of Dayton Flyers through the basketball season.
But it concluded on Saturday with a loss to the University of Arizona Wildcats in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Arizona, the second seed in the West Regional, defeated seventh-seed Dayton 78-68 in Salt Lake City.
The Flyers opened the tournament coming from 17 points behind to beat Nevada 63-60 on Thursday in the first round as back-up centre Jack had six points and four rebounds.
Steve Nash of Victoria, who would become two-time NBA MVP and captain Canada in the Olympics, first made his name in the NCAA as a freshman by leading unheralded Santa Clara to a stunning victory over the highly-regarded Wildcats in the 1993 tournament.
It is still considered one of the greatest upsets in NCAA tournament history.
Nash, almost a solitary Canadian figure in the tournament in his time, laid the path that an increasing number are following.
Jack was among 21 Canadians who began the 2024 NCAA men’s basketball tournament on Thursday.
The list included big-name players such as seven-foot-four centre Zach Edey of the Purdue Boilermakers, who last summer was on the NBA-dominated bronze-medallist Canadian team at the FIBA World Cup that qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics, Emanuel Sharp of the University of Houston Cougars, the potential top overall selection for the 2026 NBA draft, and Ryan Nembhard of the Gonzaga Bulldogs.
The Islander Jack was among two B.C. players in the tournament, along with White Rock’s Eli Djordjevic of Long Beach State, and more than held his own in the heady Canadian company.
It’s quite a rise for a guy who played hoops at Alberni District Secondary with little notice and was more interested in playing in the Alberni Valley Minor Hockey Association up until Grade 10 and snowboarding on Mount Washington.
But Jack’s size eventually got him noticed on the court by basketball academies.
He switched to Fort Erie International Academy in Ontario and led the team to the 2022 Ontario schools championship.
Jack began his NCAA career as a freshman at the University of Buffalo before transferring to Dayton this season, where he played 32 regular-season games as a sophomore and scored 101 points with 53 rebounds and 13 blocked shots.
Those numbers, and his stature, will only grow as he matures into his junior and senior seasons over the next two years. Off the court, Jack is majoring in the faculty of education.
Sport runs in the genes as Isaac Jack is the second member of the family to play NCAA sports.
His mom, Anna Jack (nee Mosdell), is co-coach of the Alberni District Secondary track and field team.
She was the 1991 and 1992 NCAA women’s discus champion when competing for Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and is inducted into the BYU Sports Hall of Fame.
Anna Jack was also the Canadian discus champion and represented the country in the 1988 world junior track and field championships in Sudbury, Ont., and the 1991 World University Games in Sheffield, England.
Her son is now writing his own story in the NCAA.
