Olympia’s Jackson Grant is All-Area player of the year
From a young age, Jackson Grant has always stood out on the basketball court. He was always a bit taller than most of his peers. More skilled, also.
John Kiley, the boys basketball coach at Olympia High School, started coaching Grant on a third grade YMCA team, where Grant played alongside Kiley’s son, Josh.
“He was taller than most,” Kiley said. “And he was always athletic. He never went through those awkward growth spurts.”
Grant grew plenty, but the spurts never impacted his coordination or hampered his ability on the floor. He came into high school as a freshman around 6-foot-6. He’s about 6-foot-10 these days. Kiley always knew Grant was special, but it would have been difficult for him to predict just how good he’d turn out to be.
Grant, a University of Washington signee, leaves Olympia as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,352 points. He broke the record in Olympia’s final game of the season on June 10 when he scored 32 points to lead Olympia to the Class 4A South Puget Sound League tournament title in a 69-49 win over Curtis.
Grant averaged 23 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks for the Bears in his senior season, shooting 65 percent from the field. He’s considered a four-star recruiting prospect, a top 50 recruit nationally and was named a McDonald’s All-American in February. For the second consecutive season, he is The News Tribune and The Olympian’s All-Area boys basketball player of the year.
“It’s been awesome (playing for Olympia),” Grant said. “Coach Kiley does an awesome job with this program. I think the thing I’m going to remember most is the van rides, the food after games, that family aspect we have. I remember there was a couple times after away games where we’d go to Chick-Fil-A and the whole student section would be there. It’s just that kind of stuff. The little stuff. The connections you make.”
He was a matchup nightmare for most opponents, towering over the competition. But it wasn’t just height. Grant boasts excellent footwork, a soft touch around the rim, a knack for snagging rebounds and putbacks and can stretch out to the 3-point line and knock down shots.
“He’s really skilled,” said Emerald Ridge coach Pat Mullen, whose Jaguars team handed Olympia its only two losses of the season (Grant still had 21 and 25 points in those games, respectively). “He can shoot the three, he’s pretty athletic for his size. He runs the court well. He’s unselfish, too. He’s willing to kick it out to his other teammates. I think he’s going to be a pretty good player. When the court is more spread out, he won’t get double teamed as much. I think he’ll be a good college basketball player.”
Grant came into high school as a lanky, somewhat passive basketball player. That changed over the course of his career. He added size and muscle to his frame and became more assertive playing in the post.
“He was really talented as a freshman, but it was bits and spurts,” Kiley said. “Physically, he was a little bit weaker. He’d be knocked off his mark. … That added strength changed his game. He could always shoot it. We’ll see that at UW. He’s always been able to finish. That strength has really been a catalyst to do so much more with his back to the basket.”
Grant also got better at creating his own shot during his high school career.
“He could put the ball down and create off the bounce a little bit,” Kiley said. “That growth with (Washington Supreme, his AAU team) and Olympia, we’ll see that at the next level. He’s just scratching the surface of his potential.”
Grant leaves Olympia as arguably the school’s best player ever (and frankly, it’d be challenging to make an argument to the contrary). For as dominant as he was on the floor, Kiley will remember him for the type of person he is.
“He’s such a humble servant-leader in our community,” Kiley said. “All that success, it could’ve gone to his head and affected him negatively, but he just takes it with such humility.”
Kiley, a season ticket holder for both UW football and men’s basketball, will be seeing plenty of Grant in the future. Only this time, he’ll be in the stands instead of the sideline.
“I’m a crazy Husky fan,” Kiley said. “It’s a dream come true to see him in the purple and gold.”
