Even with numerous foot injuries freshman year and a lack of significant playing time the following season, redshirt sophomore Keturah Jackson knew that she could make a difference.
She just needed the opportunity.
And once new head coach Joanne P. McCallie announced that each player had to earn her playing time, Jackson knew she had her shot, and she ran away with it-literally.
In a preseason endurance test, Jackson finished first in a 1.5-mile run, and the guard feels that played a prime role in establishing herself as a major player on the team.
"Coach P is really big on preseason and preseason tests, especially the mile-and-a-half," Jackson said. "The fact that I made the first time sent her a message that I was serious and working hard for playing time."
That work ethic continued throughout the preseason, and now, as Duke enters its final stretch, it has finally paid off. Jackson has gone from benchwarmer to starter over the course of the season. The role change is a significant upgrade from last year, when she averaged just two points and 1.8 rebounds per game while rarely appearing at key moments under former head coach Gail Goestenkors.
The guard has started only nine of 28 games this season, but that includes the last seven, in which she has established herself as one of the most important defensive stoppers on the team. McCallie often assigns Jackson to defend the opposing team's point guard, whom Jackson can usually overwhelm with her quickness and height.
"She brings a defensive attitude to the team, and she works really well for us," senior captain Wanisha Smith said. "For her to contribute how she has has really helped our team."
While only fourth on the team with 45 steals, Jackson averages a steal every 10.3 minutes, best on the team. Her ability to shut down opposing point guards was especially evident on Senior Night Feb. 24 against the Cavaliers.
In that game, Jackson held Virginia's Sharnee Zoll to just 1-of-10 shooting and five turnovers in the Blue Devils' 78-70 win. Afterwards, McCallie called Jackson the team's "heart and soul."
"K.J. has answered the call every single time and has always been on board and ready to go," McCallie said. "[She's] a great on-the-ball defender.... She has carried that job all year and earned herself a whole lot of playing time."
Jackson's emergence as the team's best defensive presence comes as no surprise to her teammates, who have dealt with her swarming coverage in practice for the past three years.
"I've always known she can play like this-everyone has," junior Abby Waner said. "She's always been this kind of player. She attacks the basket better than most people that I know, she's an excellent rebounder and an excellent defender."
Waner added that the redshirt sophomore is "one of [her] favorite players ever."
While her main job is guarding the opposing team's primary ball handler, Jackson's natural athleticism has lent itself to her offensive game. In one three-game stretch against Maryland, Virginia Tech and Virginia, Jackson averaged 10 points per contest.
But with Waner, Smith and center Chante Black carrying most of the offensive load, Jackson will continue to focus in on disrupting the opposing team's floor general.
"I've seen most of the guards-quick guards, shooters, penetrators," Jackson said. "That's helped me to learn how to play each guard. I can guard any guard."
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