Club success leads Jackman to BU

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This article was published 08/06/2018 (2862 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Sam Jackman was in Grade 10 he decided to take up a new sport.

He normally focused on basketball and track and field — competing in the 100-metre, 200m, 400m, high jump and triple jump — but decided to join the Morris Mavericks volleyball team that year and was bumped up to the varsity squad.

It’s three years later and that decision has paid off. Despite Morris not having a varsity boys’ volleyball team during his final two years of high school, forcing him to play club only, Jackman caught the eye of Grant Wilson and has committed to join the Brandon University Bobcats in the fall.

The six-foot-five, 205-pound middle was recruited by a couple other U Sports schools and one in the United States, but it was a trip to the Wheat City for 17-and-under club provincials last month that sold Jackman on BU.

“The day before the 17U championship in Brandon, we went there and I had previously been in contact with Coach Grant and me and my dad had a tour of the facility, the gym and everything and I was impressed,” Jackman said. “… I know some people at BU and it would be a fun place to go. I came for a visit, looked around, saw the facility and thought ‘This is definitely the place I’d like to go.’”

With his track and basketball background, Jackman is an agile player on the volleyball court. He covers a lot of ground and has a good jump. The last time he measured, his block height was 10 feet four inches while his spike height was around 11 feet 4 inches.

That has allowed the 17-year-old Jackman to be a dominant force at the net in club play. Wilson sees a lot of potential in him, but knows there is a lot of room to grow as well.

“I think he’s a pretty good middle blocker for a 17U kid and can score at that level. If he can transfer that to the next level I think he can have success,” Wilson said. “Our priority with our middle blockers is just that, be real good middle blockers.

“I think he’s starting at a pretty good spot and it’s a matter of training him to read a block the way we do as a team and I think he’ll be able to do that.”

Jackman agrees that learning to read the block is one of the biggest things he needs to improve on.

“My blocking will use work,” he said. “As I’ve gotten older I’ve noticed setters are getting a bit more tricky with their sets, a bit more deceptive in hiding where they’re going to put the ball to, but from what I’ve seen with Coach Grant and what he’s done with his players, he can definitely help me out with that.”

Jackman is the Bobcats’ fourth recruit of the season, joining his Winman teammate Max Brook of Oakbank as well as Winnipegger Nathan Dyck and Brandonite Liam Nohr.

His addition also gives the team an abundance of middles. Despite losing Daven Pascal to graduation, BU will return fifth-year James Weir, fourth-year Mason Metcalf, third-year Chayse Warkentin, and second-years Cole Tokaryk and Carter Brodner.

For Wilson, having an embarrassment of riches at middle is a blessing.

“In my opinion, middles are the hardest to find so when you find them, you want to get them,” he said. “That’s the mentality. We have guys who are toward the end of their careers, James is a fifth year this year and Mason is fourth year. We’re graduating some pretty good middles in the next couple of years so we’re continuing to build our depth in that position when we can and I definitely feel Samuel fits that spot as well.”

Jackman is looking forward to competing for some playing time at middle, Wilson expects him to learn and grow a lot this season. Jackman isn’t afraid to switch positions, like to right side, if he’s asked.

The Saint Jean Baptiste product feels that he will be ready to go when training camp comes around.

He was recently named to the 18-and-under provincial team that will compete at the Canada Cup, formerly known as the National Team Challenge Cup, in July in Richmond, B.C.

Jackman, who will study business and hopes to get into marketing, is looking forward to playing against the best players in the country in his age group and using it as preparation for his rookie season with the Bobcats.

“I’m definitely going to use it as a stepping stone to train for university,” he said. “Of course the guys we’re going to play aren’t going to be university-grade, but they’re going to be guys like me who are going to be playing university. I’ll be playing guys who are either first-year playing down or heading into their first year. It will give me extra playing time to stay at this level.”

» cjaster@brandonsun.com

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