When Charlotte transfer forward Dishon Jackson announced his commitment to Iowa State on Monday, he got a message from a former teammate.
Aljaz Kunc, a former Cyclone during coach T.J. Otzelberger’s first two seasons in Ames, was a teammate of Jackson’s during his years at Washington State.
“He said (that) I’m making a great decision,” Jackson said. “He loves coach (Otzelberger). He said, ‘prepare to win.'”
That’s exactly what Iowa State is hoping the 6-foot-11, 260-pound forward can bring, along with his two years of eligibility.
Jackson is a former four-star recruit, and started out at Washington State before eventually sitting out a year due to a health issue (Jackson told CF that the details of this will be made public in time).
Jackson chose the Cyclones over other offers from Xavier, Indiana, Miami and USC.
“Just with coach (Otzelberger) and coach (J.R. Blount), it was pretty simple,” Jackson said of his choice. “I mean, they’ve been calling me since Day 1 of me entering the portal. They’ve been very vocal about what they want from me and how they can get me better. They’ve also been, I feel like, the most transparent and honest at the very least. They have a void that needs filling and I think I can do a great job of filling that void.”
The Oakland, Calif. native spent his most recent season playing for Charlotte in the American Athletic Conference.
There, he averaged 11.4 points per game and 6.1 boards while helping Charlotte to a third-place finish in the league.
Jackson is expected to fill the void being left by departing Iowa State bigs Robert Jones, Tre King and Hason Ward.
“They want me to come in there and play extremely hard defense (and) rebound the ball,” Jackson said. “And they want me to bring some energy to the team. I think those guys have some pretty good energy going and I think I can help them, just like I know the guards can help me.”
In the meantime since his season with Charlotte ended earlier this month, Jackson has tuned in to every Iowa State game to watch his future program in action.
“I think it’s amazing,” Jackson said. “I think they play very hard. I think they play together. I think the coach (Otzelberger) has organized a well-oiled machine where those guys are just playing for each other.”
