By Gaige Winchester
Eight years ago, a second grade boy living in St. Louis, Mo., was out shooting hoops. Like many other nights the boy, his brother and his father were all out shooting a basketball. It brought the boy a happiness he had never felt and it clicked in the young boy’s mind that basketball was his first true love.
Sophomore Jackson Wors is new at Delta High School this year. He’s looking to make a big impact on the community, the students, and on the basketball court.
In his freshman season at Blackford High School, Wors averaged 11.7 points per game, that being the third-highest average on the varsity team.
In the offseason he’s put in hundreds of hours in the gym. Coming into a new program he’s looking to be a top option this season for the Eagles.
His hours of training and rigorous schedule is part of what separates him from the pack.
“Every day I wake up at 5:45 and get ready to go to the gym before school,” Wors said. “After school we either have practice or I stay to get shots up, and most nights I have training in Indianapolis after everything else.”
He originally got into basketball because he grew up around the game with his dad loving the game and his older brother playing.
On the court, Wors is a dynamic player who likes to get to the rim and finish. Off the court, Wors is looking to make an impact on the program by being good for the locker room.
“He played all June with us, and guys like him,” basketball head coach Mark Detweiler said. “He’s an aggressive driver, he’s good off the bounce. … He’s one of those rare guys that has the knack of being able to get downhill.”
Senior Clay Bragg, a returning varsity player, said Wors was good for team chemistry.
“He came and he really just fit in with all the guys,” Bragg said. “We all became close with him really fast, and he honestly just clicked the first day he came.”
Graduating some of their largest players from last season’s 18-5 squad, the Eagles will value Wors’ size. He stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 190 pounds.
He ended up at Delta this year after moving to Muncie for his dad’s job. He was looking at a couple different schools in Muncie, but decided Delta was the best fit for him.
A big factor in his decision to come to Delta instead of other schools in Muncie was returning starter Neil Marshall. Wors has known Marshall for a long time as they both went to Blackford Schools in the past. Wors says it helped his decision making process by knowing one of his teammates before he ever stepped foot in the gym.
As the season creeps up, Wors and other members of the team have been putting in hours in the gym the past couple of weeks looking forward to the season opener on Saturday, Nov. 27.
On that day, the hours that little kid in Missouri has put in will show in a blue-and-gold Eagle uniform.
