M E R I D I A N     M A G A Z I N E

The Gift of Basketball
by Kelly L. Martinez

Prior to every game the Stanford University men's basketball team plays, a time for prayer and contemplation is afforded to the players as they prepare themselves for 40 minutes of intense competition. It's during these moments that All-American standout Casey Jacobsen takes the time to give thanks to his Heavenly Father. "It's then that I like to thank God for all that He has given me," says Jacobsen. "I thank Him for me being here at Stanford. I thank Him for the gift of basketball in my life. I think it's important how I use that gift."

A gift for playing basketball is definitely what this young man has. His name appears in the Stanford record book and astounding 39 times. He's accomplished just about every individual honor you can think of. "The funny thing about individual awards," he says. "Is that they're completely out of your control. You have to play well to earn them, but anyone can have a great game once. But to keep that level of play....that's the challenge."

Obviously, basketball is a very important aspect of this young man's life. From the time he was in the eighth grade, he forsook soccer and baseball to focus his efforts on hoops. His prep accolades would take too much room here, but suffice it to say; he's done about everything you can imagine on a basketball court. If you MUST know more, visit the Stanford web site.

BYU recruited him hard, but he never was interested in playing in a Cougar uniform. Instead, his list of finalists was Duke, Stanford and Utah. After being pressured by Utah's Rick Majerus for a decision before he was ready to make one, Jacobsen narrowed his choices to Duke and Stanford. He liked both programs, but ultimately chose Stanford because of its loyalty and commitment to him. It's a decision he's been happy with ever since.

Currently
On Jan. 31, Jacobsen scored a collegiate career-high-second most in Stanford history-49 points in a 90-81 win over Arizona State. On Feb. 4, he was named the Pac-10 player of the week.

Scoring a lot of points is not an anomaly for Jacobsen. Twice this season, he's scored over 40 points, twice over 30 and eleven times over 20. In fact, he leads his team and the Pac-10 in scoring, averaging 22.6 points a game. Only twice this season has he failed to score in double digits. Scoring is not all that Jacobsen does well. He is leading the team in assists (3.5) and has improved his rebounding (4.3). As one would imagine, Jacobsen sees a lot of double- and triple-team coverage from opposing defenses.

Stanford (17-8, 10-6) was ranked #10 in the AP and #11 in the ESPN/USA Today's most recent polls (Feb. 18), but will probably drop due to losses to USC, 77-58, on Feb. 21 and to UCLA, 95-92, on Feb. 23. In the Pac-10 standings, Stanford is-at press time-in third place. USC, California and Arizona are all tied for second at 11-5 behind Oregon at 11-4. Depending on the result of the Oregon-Washington game on Saturday night, there may be a four-way tie atop the Pac-10 by the time this column posts.

Mission
Though he hasn't served a full-time mission, Jacobsen is very mindful of whom he represents. "Being on the basketball court, I feel, provides me with a lot of responsibility," he says. "Heavenly Father has given me this gift to play basketball, and I think I can use this gift to be a missionary as well. I may not serve the Lord as a full-time missionary for two years, but I definitely feel that I'm representing the Lord and the Church in all that I do."

Jacobsen feels that former Stanford standout, Mark Madsen, set an example at Stanford of what it means to be LDS. "Mark was very open about his spirituality," says Jacobsen. "Everyone knew he was active in the Church and a very spiritual guy." Jacobsen and Madsen remain in contact, talking about once a month. "I don't want to bother him any more than that," laughs Jacobsen.

Family
Jacobsen comes from a family of four boys. Older brothers, Adam and Brock, played collegiate basketball as well. Adam played at the University of the Pacific and Brock at UC San Diego. Adam is presently the head varsity basketball coach at Crescenta Valley High School in Glendale, Calif. Brock is an assistant at Glendora High School in the family's home town of Glendora, Calif.-where each of the Jacobsen boys prepped. Derek, the youngest at 14, is currently on the freshman basketball team at Glendora High.

With 619 career three-point baskets between them, the Jacobsen boys hold the collegiate record for most three-point conversions by a family-a distinction previously held by Brendan (St. Anselm College) and Kevin McCarthy (New Hampshire College) who combined for 597 treys between 1989 and 1996. The record-setting three-pointer was made by Casey in a game against USC on Jan. 26.

Jacobsen's dad, Von, played college hoops at San Diego State from 1969-71. Jacobsen's mom, Becky, is a substitute teacher who returned to school to get her college degree after years of being a stay-at-home mom.

Teammates
On the Stanford roster, there are currently three LDS players: Jacobsen, starting guard Julius Barnes and reserve forward Nick Robinson. Barnes is currently averaging 11.1 points a game while Robinson has seen limited action.

"I think Nick will do well here," says Jacobsen. "He's one of the most athletic guys on our team."

What's next?
Has the NBA beckoned? Jacobsen has one year of eligibility left, but is uncertain about his plans for the NBA. Whatever he decides, the only surety is that his decision will be based on what's best for him. Education, he says, is something very important to him. "The one good thing is that if I go to the NBA before I graduate, I'll still be able to keep working on my degree. I want very much to graduate from college."

A communications major, Jacobsen hopes to one day work in the sports broadcasting field.

And should the NBA's beckoning call be answered, Jacobsen has already seen the level of talent awaiting him, having competed in summer games against the Milwaukee Bucks' Ray Allen, who, as of this writing, is averaging a nearly-identical 22.7 points a game this season.

Could this be a case of nearly-identical-stat-by-association syndrome? At the professional level, it's probably safe to say that Casey Jacobsen hopes so.

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