Athletes are known for their superstitious pregame rituals. Some athletes eat the exact same meal before every game, or some listen to the same music.
Senior basketball player Orlan Jackman talks to the rim.
“Other than warming up before a game, I have a conversation with the rim,” Jackman said. “I’ll ask how the rim it’s doing, I’ll ask the rim to be nice to me and I will be nice to them. I make the rim a person, personify it I guess. Towards the end of the game if I can’t get over to the rim I’ll point at it and say thank you.”
According to Jackman his rim conversations began as a way to psych himself up when his shot is not falling.
“Some people, when they’re not shooting well just say, ‘Come on let’s go, or I need to make that,’ but I just thought I’d try this out one time,” Jackman said. “That game I did very well and it just stuck with me.”
The senior from London has had plenty of help from the rims so far this season. The 6-foot-6 forward scored a career-high 29 points against Rogers State and leads Oklahoma City University in scoring, 13.6 points per game, and rebounding with 9.1 boards per game. Jackman’s performance on the court makes him this week’s Super Star of the week.
“I just go out and play,” Jackman said. “Coach calls out the play, and we run it. He gives us a chance to get the ball in the best scoring opportunities, or sometimes he gives us chance to be in the best rebounding opportunities whenever somebody misses. I just try to take advantage of that.”
Jackman leads the Stars in scoring but shares the load with two of his teammates, junior Charlton Jones and sophomore Tim Morton.
“It’s very balanced scoring,” Jackman said. “If I’m not shooting very well from the floor, Tim will pick up the slack or Charlton will pick up the slack and I do the same if they’re not shooting very well.”
One of Jackman’s biggest moments came on Jan. 7 when he made a game-saving block against John Brown (Ark.).
“It was crazy,” Jackman said. “The whole game I didn’t play very well, but coach put me in at the last second and told me to go do something, and I did something.”
Basketball was not the only sport Jackman played when he was a kid.
“Growing up back home I used to play football, which is known as soccer around here,” Jackman said. “I also played a sport called cricket too, which not many people know about.”
Jackman says there are elements of cricket he misses.
“I miss it sometimes because it is a slower paced sport,” Jackman said. “It’s like a battle between the pitcher, which is called the bowler, and the batsman.”
Jackman’s size was a big reason for his decision to play basketball.
“I got too tall for cricket,” Jackman said. “It got to be where it was less of an advantage being taller and playing cricket and more of an advantage for basketball. So I went towards basketball.”
More on Orlan:
Reason I picked OCU: Great tradition and educational opportunities
Reality show I hate: Pawn Stars
Sporting event I would like to see someday: World Cup final
My obsession is: Playstation 3
Number of text messages I have sent today: 17
