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The instincts that helped make Jackson Emery into BYU's alltime steals leader told him that the time was right to hang up the high-tops, so Emery is giving up pursuit of a pro basketball career to enter the business world.
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"Everything happens for a reason," Emery told me this afternoon. "With the (overseas) market being really down this year and really slow and my agent having a really tough time--not because I'm not a good player, but just because of the whole market--I got a job opportunity here...(that) I decided I'm going to go with."
Emery will now be working for a local social entrepreneurship start-up called EcoScraps, a firm that has already been featured on the cover of Inc. magazine. Emery's friend and former high school classmate Dan Blake is EcoScraps co-founder.
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Emery got workouts with the Utah Jazz and the Minnesota Timberwolves with designs on landing a job in Europe, before calling it quits. "It's definitely hard," said Emery, "because anytime you hang up your shoes and realize 'oh, this is it'--that's never ever hit me."
"To hang it up and realize that it's over, it's tough. But that's life, and you've got to do what's best for you and your family, and I feel like this is the best decision."
Emery left BYU as a three-time MWC All-Defensive Team member and 2011 MWC Defensive Player of the Year. He was named to the all-league Second Team in 2010 and 2011 and stands second to only Jimmer Fredette on the list of winningest players in BYU hoops history. Emery is also third in BYU's career three-point field goal tally, trailing only Fredette and Jonathan Tavernari.
You can hear my interview with Emery by clicking on the play button in "Cougar Cuts," above right.
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Emery and his wife Cherese are expecting their first child in September, and Jackson says he is ready to move on to the next phase in his life as "a fan of BYU Basketball, and basketball in general."
Emery acknowledges that "you might always have that thought in your mind, you know the 'what-if'...'what if you went and played, what you could have done, what you could have been, maybe you would have a had a shot in the NBA'...but you make the best decision that you can currently and you hope and wish for the best and I think I made the best decision. We'll find out later on, but I'm content right now."
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Asked about his most poignant memory as a Cougar, Emery said it was "just building BYU Basketball. Where we were, and where we ended up, it's fantastic, to be a part of that. You always wish to be part of a legacy, and I felt I was part of that."
"As part of building and watching it grow, it's going to be something fantastic to watch, and I hope it continues to grow...and as someone sitting in the back, it's going to be something different...but I'm excited to watch."
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Emery's younger brother Nick is entering his junior season at Lone Peak High School, and has already earned scholarship offers from BYU and Oklahoma State. Big brother Jackson says interest is heating up as the younger Emery torches summer league competition (he scored 47 points in an AAU loss in Las Vegas on Friday afternoon).
"Of course," Emery said when I asked him if he'd like to see Nick carry on the family legacy in BYU blue. "I think it's a great program and a great thing we've got going on. Obviously, he's got to make his own decision, it's his own life, but not only would he be a good fit here, I think a lot of fans would enjoy watching him."
The elder Emery says Kansas, UCLA, Arizona and Arizona State are among the schools calling about his little brother--one of the most exciting prep players the state of Utah has seen.
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While Jackson Emery steps away from the hardwoods, one of his BYU teammates and fellow senior captains is going overseas to continue his playing career. Logan Magnusson has signed a one-season contract to play with the Hanau White Wings, of Germany's Pro B League.
I spoke with Magnusson earlier tonight, and he related to me that Emery told him "we're trading places," with Emery cancelling plans for a European career and Magnusson somewhat surprisingly landing an overseas gig.
Magnusson will be a teammate of former Cougar big man Chris Miles, who recommended Magnusson to the Hanau coach. Logan tells me he expects to head to Germany in early August.
Had Magnusson not gotten the foreign opportunity, he was expecting to work with the BYU coaching staff this coming season as a fifth-year senior student assistant.
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