Hoosiers Now

Final Grades: Trayce Jackson-Davis Was Clearly Indiana's Best Player

At long last, high marks for an Indiana player in our series, as freshman Trayce Jackson-Davis moves to the head of his class.

Tom Brew

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — He was an important recruit, and Trayce Jackson-Davis, as expected, became Indiana's most important player as well during the 2019-20 season. The 6-foot-9 forward from Greenwood, Ind. was that good.

Jackson-Davis led the Hoosiers in scoring, rebounding, field goals, free throws and blocks. And he did all of that as the primary focus of opposing defenses, and succeeded anyway.

He had several huge games in Indiana's 20-12 season, and was a double-double beast, accomplishing the feat 12 times this season, with Indiana going 11-1 in those games. He received several postseason honors, including third-team all-Big Ten, first-team all Big Ten freshman team and Big Ten Freshman of the Week five different times.

Let's take a look at Jackson-Davis' season:

By the numbers

  • Games played: 32
  • Games started: 32
  • Minutes per game: 29.4 
  • Points per game: 13.5 
  • Assists per game: 1.2
  • Rebounds per game: 8.4
  • Field goal percentage: 56.6
  • 3-point percentage: 0.0
  • Free throw percentage: 68.5

Best game

Indiana 68, Minnesota 56 on Feb. 16, 2020 in Minneapolis: It's one thing to completely dominate a game, but it's another thing when it's on the road late in the season with your team's NCAA tournament hopes on the line. That was especially true when Jackson-Davis scored a season-high 27 points and had 16 points in the big win at Minnesota.

The Barn is a tough place to play, and the Gophers have quality big men of their own. But Jackson-Davis was in attack mode all night, and he was also a great decision-maker. He made 11-of-15 shots from the field and 5-of-9 free throws. In 35 minutes of playing time, he also only had two turnovers on the night. He was a flat-out stud that night.

Things I liked

There is a rare and special smoothness to Jackson-Davis' game, and there's no doubt he's a pleasure to watch. He was clearly Indiana's best player this season, and there's not even a close second. 

Indiana coach Archie Miller wanted Jackson-Davis to be an inside presence, and that's where he stayed. Most of his points came right around the rim, either in a set offense or on the run. He's very athletic with a nice scoring touch, and he attacks the rim as a great rebounder. 

Just as importantly — if not more so — he was a great teammate. Even as a freshman, he was more than willing to push this team to a higher level, which happened with their first 20-win season in four years.

Things I didn't like

We can keep this short, because the only negative I've got on Trayce's game is that it seemed a bit limited at times this season. But, as we discussed in my interview with him in February — (see story link below) — that was sort of the plan from the coaching staff all along. They didn't want to overwhelm him during his freshman year.

He has more of a perimeter game than he showed this year, and he's been adamant about the fact that he played that way in high school. When he told me then that he'd be coming back for his sophomore year for sure, we talked about expanding his game. I'm looking forward to seeing that. So is he, as was obvious when he reached out to congratulate fellow Mr. Basketball honoree Anthony Leal last week.

Best video

Archie Miller's comments on Trayce Jackson-Davis midway through the season hit the nail on the head. Not only had everyone at Indiana realized that he had become the Hoosiers' most important player, but opposing coaches knew it, too. And they game-planned accordingly.

Learning how to deal with all the extra attention can be hard for a freshman, but Jackson-Davis handled it well. He had some of his best games late in the season.  

Final Grade: A-minus

This is the tenth of our 11 "Final Grades'' story and it's the first A that I've doled out. It's well earned by Jackson-Davis. He's not perfect by any means — hence the minus — but he showed a lot of wonderful skill all year.

As we see improvement next year, I won't be a bit surprised if he wins the Big Ten Player of the Year award next year. He's that good — and he has the potential to be even better.

Your thoughts? Please join the conversation in our Community thread.

Related content on Trayce Jackson-Davis

  • BACK FOR MORE: Trayce Jackson-Davis tells me in a one-on-one interview that he's coming back to Indiana for his sophomore season. CLICK HERE
  • SHOWING HIS BEST: Jackson-Davis' 27-point, 16-rebound night at Minnesota was further proof of how great he can be, CLICK HERE
  • BOUNCING BACK: Jackson-Davis had been held to single digits in three straight games, but he broke out of his mini-slump at Nebraska. CLICK HERE

Complete list of  'Final Grades' stories

  • PART 1, DEVONTE GREEN: Breaking down the season for Indiana senior guard and co-captain Devonte Green. CLICK HERE
  • PART 2, DE'RON DAVIS: Indiana's senior big man battled injuries throughout his career, but stayed healthy in 2020 and played a small role. CLICK HERE
  • PART 3, AL DURHAM: The junior guard leads Indiana in three-point shooting percentage and carries a big load. CLICK HERE
  • PART 4, JUSTIN SMITH: The junior forward was second in scoring and rebounding for the Hoosiers, but there seemed to be something missing. CLICK HERE
  • PART 5, JOEY BRUNK: The transfer from Butler added a lot to the Indiana roster, both on and off the court. CLICK HERE
  • PART 6, ROB PHINISEE: The sophomore point guard never was the same after a lengthy abdominal injury. CLICK HERE
  • PART 7, JEROME HUNTER: It was great to see Jerome Hunter back out on the floor after missing entire freshman season. CLICK HERE
  • PART 8, RACE THOMPSON: The redshirt sophomore was productive off the bench, and had a happy homecoming in Minnesota. CLICK HERE
  • PART 9, DAMEZI ANDERSON: We take a deep dive into what happened to Damezi Anderson, whose offensive game completely disappeared. CLICK HERE
  • PART 10: TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: The standout freshman was Indiana's best player all season, and it wasn't even close. CLICK HERE
  • PART 11: ARMAAN FRANKLIN: Some magical moments back home in Indianapolis this season for Indiana's freshman guard. CLICK HERE

Coming on Friday

  • FINAL GRADES: Armaan Franklin's freshman year at Indiana.
Published
Tom Brew
TOM BREW

Tom Brew is an award-winning journalist who has worked at some of America's finest newspapers as a reporter and editor, including the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times, the Indianapolis Star and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has covered college sports in the digital platform for the past six years, including the last five years as publisher of HoosiersNow on the FanNation/Sports Illustrated network.

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