By Bill Alden

For Jay Jackson, playing for the SpeedPro team in the Princeton Princeton Recreation Department Men’s Summer Basketball League this year has been a reunion tour.

Jackson, who went to Princeton High for three years and starred in football, basketball, and lacrosse before transferring to the Pennington School, was excited to team up with SpeedPro, which is comprised of recent PHS alums like Judd Petrone, Jack Suozzi, Matt Rinaldi, Brendan Rougas, and Tim Evidente.

“It has been awhile — I grew up with them and we have been playing for a while,” said Jackson, who graduated from Pennington in 2021 and has gone to play college lacrosse at Frostburg State University where he will be a senior this fall. “It is just being able to hang out with the guys on the court. It is nice to be able to get back out on the court with these guys.”

Last Friday, Jackson played hard as SpeedPro faced PATH, looking for its first win of the summer. The 6’6 Jackson dominated in the paint in the early going, scoring eight points as SpeedPro built an 18-14 halftime lead.

“I was trying to use my size and weight a little bit,” said Jackson. “I am just trying to get back into it.”

In the second half, SpeedPro faded as PATH pulled way to a 45-35 win.

“We are all out of shape,” said Jackson, who ended up with nine points on the evening. “If we can play some defense and get some rebounds, I feel like we will be all right.”

Coming off a knee injury, Jackson has been using summer hoops to help him get in shape for his senior lacrosse campaign.

“I tore my ACL in December so I didn’t get to play this season,” said Jackson. “I was able to start running about a month ago. It feels good. It is a lot of PT still so I am getting after that. It is good to get back into shape and being able to run. I am still playing lacrosse outside of this.”

While Speed Pro fell 76-50 to Jefferson Plumbing last Monday night to drop to 0-5, the win-loss record is not the main focus for Jackson this summer.

“I feel it is more towards the having fun side,” said Jackson, who scored 18 points in the defeat. “We don’t really care as much about the winning — it is just trying to get up and down the court and having fun.”