Being 'part of winning team' last piece to Trayce Jackson-Davis' legacy

When Trayce Jackson-Davis made a decision to return to Indiana for his fourth season, his last, the expectations for the Indiana basketball program immediately skyrocketed. Then the question switched from, 'can this team be good' to 'how good can this team be'.

Jackson-Davis returns to college basketball as not only one of the best -- if not the best -- player in the Big Ten, but also one of the top players in all of the country.

With that in mind, thoughts also turned to how Jackson-Davis would balance returning to a team with real expectations and talent with his own personal aspirations of not only getting to the NBA, but solidifying his spot in the NBA Draft.

"I think it's both," Jackson-Davis said at Big Ten Media Day. "They go hand in hand. I think I could've made the jump last year... But at the same time, it wasn't a bad thing that I came back. I think being able to come back will help me in the long run, especially who we have coming back. Another year with coach Woodson, his experience will be huge for us... if we do the right things, that'll be huge for us."

Jackson-Davis has a career average of 16.9 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game in 94 career games. Assuming he carries on roughly those averages this season, he could become the only Indiana player in program history to rank in the top three in all three categories.

He has been a dominant force in the paint and proved already to be one of the best post players in the country on a consistent basis. But, all of the talk this offseason -- and every summer since he arrived on campus -- has been his jump shot. How will he expand his game, his jump shot and how frequently will he use it.

"The biggest thing for me, our coaches tell us all the time, 'you have to be comfortable being uncomfortable;. I've averaged nearly 20 and 10 a game in the Big Ten going down low so I'm doing something right," Jackson-Davis said. "But expanding my game and getting different things added to my game and expand my game is going to be huge for me."

Any sort of improved jump shot will be a new part of this Indiana program, but so will the expectations. Indiana made the NCAA Tournament last year for the first time since 2016. Now, the expectation is not to just return to the tournament, not just win a First Four game. It's to win multiple.

"I think just coming in here my freshman year and not having really any expectations, even sophomore year, and then junior year just having a new team. Finally coming in here to this historic program and having an expectation to do something big I think is huge," Jackson-Davis said at IU media day. "Obviously we're going to carry that with a chip on our shoulder, but I think our team is hungry, and we're ready to get out there and play."

So, as the individual awards have already come, with more to roll in, and the aspirations of making it to the NBA in the near future, the word 'legacy' has continued to be tossed around and in his direction.

What does it truly mean for the All-American who could end up being one of the statistically best players to play in Assembly Hall? For Jackson-Davis, it's more than just the points or rebounds. And this year, he has the chance to make his 'legacy' come to fruition.

"Yeah, absolutely. I think I have kind of set the stone of my individual legacy, being an All-American and doing all those things, but those don't really matter if you don't win something here," Jackson-Davis said. "Winning is a big thing here, so winning a National Championship and also winning a Big Ten title, those are my two main goals this year, and if I do that, I know everything else will take care of itself.

"I think that's the last legacy to build here. Being part of a great team. I don't want to be remembered as someone who was a great player but part of a mediocre team. That's the last thing. I want to be able to say we did something special in '22-'23."

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