BY JONAS POPE IV
RALEIGH
Jaylon Gibson finds himself at an interesting crossroad.
He should be enjoying his senior year of high school, probably getting ready for prom, then final exams in a few weeks final and saying goodbye to his classmates as everyone starts the next chapter of their lives.
Since last August, the plan was to enroll at Wake Forest this summer and play basketball for Danny Manning and the Demon Deacons. Gibson got an early lesson in life that plans can change. Last week, Wake Forest fired Manning after six seasons in Winston-Salem. Gibson, a senior at GRACE Christian School in Cary, formed a relationship with Manning and his staff over that time, and with Manning being shown the door, Gibson figured it would be best that he ask out of his National Letter of Intent, which he signed in November.
Playing in the ACC under Manning was a dream of his, but the business side of college basketball opened Gibson’s eyes.
“You try to think of it as just basketball,” Gibson said. “But that business side is a monster.”
Gibson said seeing Manning let go “broke my heart.” Now he’s on the journey to find a new fit, and another staff he can build a bond with and reach the NBA.
Thursday , Wake Forest announced that former East Tennessee State head coach Steve Forbes would take over for Manning. That didn’t change Gibson’s mind about Wake Forest. He still wanted to be released.
“I’m happy for the coach that he gets to prove his leadership,” Gibson said on Thursday. “I congratulate him, but I can’t see myself playing at Wake Forest with all the uncertainty. I’ve heard that several players have entered the transfer portal.”
At 6-foot-11, 200 pounds, Gibson is a hot commodity among the NCAA free agents. The day after he decommitted, he stayed away from social media and off his phone, giving himself time to process what took place. When he turned his phone back on, it was filled with messages and missed calls from coaches from all over the country, trying to convince him he can have a fresh start (whenever that is) at their university.
“After this week, I’ll be breaking down schools and analyzing where I want to go,” Gibson told the N&O in a Zoom call earlier this week.
The breakup with Wake Forest was tough; Gibson used “grieve” to describe his emotions after he heard Manning was fired. But he couldn’t allow himself time to wallow. The No. 14 player in North Carolina in the class of 2020, Gibson picked the Demon Deacons over Providence, Houston, South Florida, Iowa and Cincinnati. He says he wants to give all schools a fair chance in his new recruitment, and that he isn’t showing any favoritism to the schools that recruited him before.
There are new suitors in the mix — Syracuse, Louisville and Maryland, to name a few — and Gibson wants to make a decision before the summer. But how do you do that in this era of social distancing and restrictions? Gibson can’t go on campus to take visits, play in open gyms or even get a good feel for the city. He can only do virtual tours and speak with coaches on video conferences and his own homework.
“Just researching schools and their style of play,” Gibson said. “Looking at games from this past year that they played, what they allowed people in my position to do and their recent success of NBA players.”
Gibson played center for GRACE Christian but expects to play power forward in college. As a senior, he averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Eagles, who played in some high-profile games in 2019-20 as Gibson’s stock, along with the school’s, rose. He helped GRACE finish with an overall record of 21-12 to go along with a perfect 7-0 mark in league play. The Eagles won 43 games the last two seasons with him on the roster.
“He elevated our community to heights like never before,” GRACE coach DeShannon Morris told the N&O. “I told him to leave it better than you found it (and) he definitely did.”
Gibson said he’ll treat this like a fresh start, as if he’s “never been recruited before.” The phone calls stopped once he signed with Wake Forest, but now the wooing has started again, with teams rolling out the virtual red carpet for the next couple of weeks. Having to do this all over again, this late in the year, Gibson admitted he’s a little frustrated by how the tables turned.
“Very frustrating,” Gibson said. “I really, really had my hopes up on going to Wake Forest. I loved the campus, loved going to games there, I could really see myself playing in that arena. It was just heartbreaking to see what happened.”
The Wake Forest coaches were like family to Gibson and it’s easy to see that he’s affected by them being fired. Morris said Gibson was more worried about the staff and their families than himself. When asked about his relationship with the Wake Forest coaches, Gibson took a few moments to reflect, clearly still bothered by his coach no longer being there.
“Building that relationship,” he says before his voice trails off, taking some time to think. “It’s almost like losing a family member, you know. It’s just crazy. I can’t even put it into words right now, I’m still kind of processing it. When I’m (allowed) to contact them, that’s the first thing I’m going to do.”
RALEIGH
Jaylon Gibson finds himself at an interesting crossroad.
He should be enjoying his senior year of high school, probably getting ready for prom, then final exams in a few weeks final and saying goodbye to his classmates as everyone starts the next chapter of their lives.
Since last August, the plan was to enroll at Wake Forest this summer and play basketball for Danny Manning and the Demon Deacons. Gibson got an early lesson in life that plans can change. Last week, Wake Forest fired Manning after six seasons in Winston-Salem. Gibson, a senior at GRACE Christian School in Cary, formed a relationship with Manning and his staff over that time, and with Manning being shown the door, Gibson figured it would be best that he ask out of his National Letter of Intent, which he signed in November.
Playing in the ACC under Manning was a dream of his, but the business side of college basketball opened Gibson’s eyes.
“You try to think of it as just basketball,” Gibson said. “But that business side is a monster.”
Gibson said seeing Manning let go “broke my heart.” Now he’s on the journey to find a new fit, and another staff he can build a bond with and reach the NBA.
Thursday , Wake Forest announced that former East Tennessee State head coach Steve Forbes would take over for Manning. That didn’t change Gibson’s mind about Wake Forest. He still wanted to be released.
“I’m happy for the coach that he gets to prove his leadership,” Gibson said on Thursday. “I congratulate him, but I can’t see myself playing at Wake Forest with all the uncertainty. I’ve heard that several players have entered the transfer portal.”
At 6-foot-11, 200 pounds, Gibson is a hot commodity among the NCAA free agents. The day after he decommitted, he stayed away from social media and off his phone, giving himself time to process what took place. When he turned his phone back on, it was filled with messages and missed calls from coaches from all over the country, trying to convince him he can have a fresh start (whenever that is) at their university.
“After this week, I’ll be breaking down schools and analyzing where I want to go,” Gibson told the N&O in a Zoom call earlier this week.
The breakup with Wake Forest was tough; Gibson used “grieve” to describe his emotions after he heard Manning was fired. But he couldn’t allow himself time to wallow. The No. 14 player in North Carolina in the class of 2020, Gibson picked the Demon Deacons over Providence, Houston, South Florida, Iowa and Cincinnati. He says he wants to give all schools a fair chance in his new recruitment, and that he isn’t showing any favoritism to the schools that recruited him before.
There are new suitors in the mix — Syracuse, Louisville and Maryland, to name a few — and Gibson wants to make a decision before the summer. But how do you do that in this era of social distancing and restrictions? Gibson can’t go on campus to take visits, play in open gyms or even get a good feel for the city. He can only do virtual tours and speak with coaches on video conferences and his own homework.
“Just researching schools and their style of play,” Gibson said. “Looking at games from this past year that they played, what they allowed people in my position to do and their recent success of NBA players.”
Gibson played center for GRACE Christian but expects to play power forward in college. As a senior, he averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Eagles, who played in some high-profile games in 2019-20 as Gibson’s stock, along with the school’s, rose. He helped GRACE finish with an overall record of 21-12 to go along with a perfect 7-0 mark in league play. The Eagles won 43 games the last two seasons with him on the roster.
“He elevated our community to heights like never before,” GRACE coach DeShannon Morris told the N&O. “I told him to leave it better than you found it (and) he definitely did.”
Gibson said he’ll treat this like a fresh start, as if he’s “never been recruited before.” The phone calls stopped once he signed with Wake Forest, but now the wooing has started again, with teams rolling out the virtual red carpet for the next couple of weeks. Having to do this all over again, this late in the year, Gibson admitted he’s a little frustrated by how the tables turned.
“Very frustrating,” Gibson said. “I really, really had my hopes up on going to Wake Forest. I loved the campus, loved going to games there, I could really see myself playing in that arena. It was just heartbreaking to see what happened.”
The Wake Forest coaches were like family to Gibson and it’s easy to see that he’s affected by them being fired. Morris said Gibson was more worried about the staff and their families than himself. When asked about his relationship with the Wake Forest coaches, Gibson took a few moments to reflect, clearly still bothered by his coach no longer being there.
“Building that relationship,” he says before his voice trails off, taking some time to think. “It’s almost like losing a family member, you know. It’s just crazy. I can’t even put it into words right now, I’m still kind of processing it. When I’m (allowed) to contact them, that’s the first thing I’m going to do.”
