College Commitment: Alex Jaczko (2019 Newberg HS)
Alex Jaczko is staying close to home. It originally looked as if the versatile 6-foot-5, 190-pound forward from Newberg was going to head to California for college. But sometimes situations other than basketball can play a factor when it comes to final decisions and while Jazcko will be playing his college ball just a short distance away at Linfield next year, it’s something he’s extremely excited about.
“It really came down to between Cal Lutheran and Linfield and they’re both great schools and they’re both great programs,” Jaczko said. “Money was a little bit of a factor for me, but regardless I’m still really happy I chose to go to Linfield.”
Linfield will give Jaczko the opportunity to live at home in Newberg while attending school, and he’s happy that he has the opportunity to continue his basketball career in college. The spot with the Wildcats only came about recently as Jaczko made an effort to get in touch with Linfield head coach Shanan Rosenberg. The Wildcats didn’t initially show a lot of interest during the season but one thing led to another.
“I’ve built a really good relationship with Coach Rose (Rosenberg),” Jaczko said. “He invited me to some open gyms, I got to know the team, and they’re all super nice guys and really fun to play with. And in those open gyms I was able to show my skills and get used to the system a little bit, and about a week ago Coach Rose came to me and said let me konw when you want a spot on the team and that made my decision easy.”
Another reason Jaczko pursued Linfield is the fact they have what he’s looking for off the court. “Linfield has a really good education program,” Jaczko said. “I eventually want to live in Oregon and stay closer to home, and a lot of my job opportunities are going to be around this area. That really played a factor.”
With his decision, Jaczko joins a couple of other in-state kids who have recently committed in a league rival (Braden Thorn of Sherwood) and an AAU teammate (Chase McClain of Mountain View). “They’re kids from Oregon and that’s exciting,” Jaczko said. “I’m excited to play with them – I’ve seen both of them play and I know that they’re really talented. We can do something special at Linfield.”
Jaczko noted that he’d like to work on his ball-handling and get bigger, faster, and stronger to get ready for the college level. He currently ranks as the #40 player in the PrepHoops Oregon Class of 2019 rankings.