Driven to Succeed

Casey Jacobsen learned as much about basketball in the car as he ever did actually playing or watching the game.

He was a back-seat driver of the very best kind. A quiet, intelligent preteen who subconsciously mapped a road to success by listening to front-seat exchanges between his father and older brothers as they drove home after high school basketball games.

His father, Von Jacobsen, was a prolific scorer at Crawford High in San Diego and set several records at San Diego State. Adam Jacobsen, his oldest brother, was a three-point marksman and All-Southern Section guard at Glendora and Crescenta Valley high schools who went on to play at Pacific. Brock Jacobsen, an All-Southern Section guard at Crescenta Valley, recently completed his senior season at San Diego.

“When you’re around something so long, you just start to pick up on things you might not even think about,” said Casey, a 6-foot-6 guard. “Being in the car during those rides home, I’d hear them discuss what happened and what they thought they could improve on.

“I was there when Adam played and I was still in that car after he graduated and Brock was playing. They were two different kinds of players and I got to see them both develop.

“I’ve kind of remembered everything, so maybe that’s how I’ve gotten the style I play.”

Glendora’s season ended when the Tartans were eliminated by Lakewood Artesia in the Southern California state regional semifinals March 11.

And though Jacobsen won’t begin classes at Stanford until the fall, his post-prep career has already begun.

On Wednesday night, he was one of 21 players, including Artesia’s Jason Kapono, who participated in the annual McDonald’s All-American game. Jacobsen scored 22 points to help the West team win, 141-128, at Ames, Iowa.

Today, Jacobsen travels from Iowa to Florida, where he will attend the Final Four and play for the 12-player USA Basketball junior national team that will take on an under-20 world all-star team Sunday.

Then it’s off to Washington, D.C., for two days of practice before leaving for France to play for a U.S. team in an under-18 tournament.

“I’ve been fortunate to play in a system [at Glendora] that has allowed me to maximize my potential,” said Jacobsen, who was co-captain of the U.S. Junior National team that won a gold medal at the World Youth Games in Moscow last summer. “I’ve never been satisfied or complacent about where I am.

“I’m looking forward to new challenges at new levels.”

Jacobsen scored 3,284 points at Glendora to eclipse the Southern Section record of 3,053 set by former Glendora standout Tracy Murray in 1987-90. Murray’s brother, Cameron, is third on the list with 2,842. Jacobsen’s total ranks second is state history behind Darnell Robinson of Emeryville Emery, who scored 3,359 in 1990-93.

“His shot, his moves and his work ethic is enabling him to get better, skill-wise, every year,” Glendora Coach Mike LeDuc said. “When you combine that with his intelligence, body strength and jumping ability, you have the whole package.”

Although he broke the 50-point mark several times as a junior, Jacobsen’s most impressive high school performance might have come in January in the Martin Luther King Jr. Dream Classic at Pauley Pavilion. With much of the Southland basketball community on hand, Jacobsen scored 43 points against Capistrano Valley. He scored Glendora’s first 16 points, making six of eight shots, and scored 32 points in the first half. The crowd almost went silent in awe as shot after shot dropped in.

“I’ve had games where I’ve been hotter, but that game will be remembered more distinctly,” Jacobsen said. “You rarely get those moments where it seems like everyone else is in slow motion and you’re going through the paces. You see yourself compete that way when you lay your head down on the pillow at night--you visualize it. So when it really starts to happen, you ride them and milk them for all they are worth.

“To play that well, in that building, before that crowd, is something that will stay with me.”

The performance convinced Capistrano Valley Coach Brian Mulligan that Jacobsen would make an immediate impact at Stanford. Not because of what Jacobsen did with the ball when he had it, but because of what he did before he took possession.

“I made tapes of the game and gave them to some of my younger kids and said, ‘This is how you move without the ball,’ ” Mulligan said. “That’s why Casey is going to be able to play in anybody’s system. He’s already perfected the art of moving without the ball to the degree that most kids that go to college will never learn.”

Jacobsen learned the game in the family backyard and car with his father and brothers, on traveling youth teams with players such as Kapono and at Glendora under LeDuc.

He averaged 15 points a game as a freshman and 26 as a sophomore.

As a junior, he was selected Southern Section player of the year after averaging 32 points and leading Glendora to the I-A championship.

This season, he averaged 30 points as Glendora returned to the Southern Section I-A final, where the Tartans were defeated by Santa Ana Mater Dei. Glendora won its first game in the state regional before losing to Artesia in the semifinals for the second year in a row.

After the tournament in France, Jacobsen will rest, then begin preparing for next season at Stanford. He chose the Cardinal after also considering Utah and Duke.

“Other than Duke, I don’t think there’s another place in America that combines the academic excellence with the basketball excellence that Stanford does,” he said. “I know it’s going to be a huge transition, but when I watch them, I’m excited because I can see myself in that system.

“I’ve worked hard to get where I am, but I know the real work is just beginning.”