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14 // VARSITY March 6, 2014 BY MIKE LUCAS // UWBADGERS.COM LUCAS AT LARGE W isconsin's Bo Ryan was "hands-on" as a high school and college player. He wanted the ball in his hands whether he was the point guard or the quarterback. These were take- charge positions to his thinking. It was the same thing in baseball for Ryan who was a shortstop. "It doesn't matter at what level, you always knew there were some guys who just wanted the ball hit to them for that last out," he said. "Or they wanted the last shot. There are just people in athletics that really thrive in being in those situations. We've had plenty of guys that fit that mold." Traevon Jackson would fit that description. Beyond four career game-winning or game-tying shots, including his clutch jumpers this season in victories over Florida and Michigan State, he has shown his poise at the free throw line. At Penn State, he went 4-for-4 in the final 17 seconds to seal the win. "You've got to finish the game, you've got to go up there and be confident and make them," Jackson said. "The biggest thing with free throw shooting is having a short- term memory. Even if you make them, you're going to have more coming up. You make two and you have to make two more." Jackson accounted for six of the last seven points against the Nit- tany Lions. "You want the ball in your hands," he said, "because you want to be able to say, 'We won the game and I had something to do with it.' You want to be in those moments. You've got to enjoy the pressure and enjoy the moment." On Wednesday night, Jackson was reminded of how quickly time flies as a collegian when the Bad- gers honored their three seniors ― Ben Brust, Evan Anderson and Zach Bohannon ― before and after the Purdue game. "It feels like yester- day that I came in here as a fresh- man," said Jackson, now a junior. Long after they have moved on, Jackson will have fond memories of Bohannon ("He's got the mentality that he wants to be great; I know for a fact I will see big things out of him in the corporate world") and Anderson ("Here's a guy who never complained and just came to work every day"). He called them "great team- mates." He said the same of Brust. "I got a chance to get close to him this year," he pointed out. "I think last year we were more teammates than this year where we're more friends, really good friends. He's a guy who's fearless. I love that about him." You can tell that Jackson loves being hands-on (read: Ryan) and he loves being in a take-charge posi- tion as a point guard. "In my mind and in my heart, I've been a point guard ever since my junior year of high school," said Jackson, a native of Westerville, Ohio. "I know no- body else thought I was." Jackson feels like he has been misidentified at times as a con- verted off-ball guard or a shooting guard in part because he has played with others who had the ball more than he did. Of such characteriza- tions, he said, "I know who I am and that's all that really matters." In this context, he knows that a point guard must be the "rock of the team" and walk a line between hunting shots for others and hunt- ing his own. "You have to know how the flow of the game is going," he said. "If your shot is there, you have to take it. If it's not, you have to create it for others." Jackson never enters a game with a number in mind on how many shots he should take. "But it's detri- mental for you as a point guard," he said, "if you're out there and you're not aggressive and when you're open, you're not taking the shots, because then it's hurting the team by playing four on five." Addressing the decisions that have to be made on every posses- sion, he said, "You have to know when to shoot, when not to; when to be aggressive, when not to; and when to take over the game and when to settle things down and get other people to take over the game by giving them the ball." Not all decisions will be the right ones, hence the scrutiny and criti- cism. "But because of my maturity and growth spiritually," he said, "I feel more grounded where I'm at today and secure with myself. Noth- ing really can affect that. If you fall, you have to keep getting back up." His stand-up play has turned out to be a lesson in faith and persever- ance. Jackson grows comfortable taking charge