Q and A: Monmouth Guard, Jakari Spence

There are thousands upon thousands of college hoopers pursuing their love for the game of basketball almost every practice, offseason, and matchup. Although there are a lot of perks of being a division one athlete, it can be a challenging yet guiding journey for all student-athletes around the country. For Junior Monmouth guard Jakari Spence, he has excellent determination to put in the work every single day.

Since his high school days, Jakari was a solid performer and excelled in most every game he played from his sophomore to senior year. He had a career 1,335 points, alongside 257 rebounds and 404 assists. After building an impressive high school resume, he walked on to Robert Morris University in the fall of 2020. But eventually, he would transfer back to his home state in New Jersey, where he would play for the Monmouth Hawks starting his sophomore year.

This move awarded him gradual improvement with better opportunities. 

Q1: In your own opinion, did you or anyone else help increase or improve any specific skills while adapting to the college level?

Spence: Shavar Reynolds Jr, Justin Robinson, and NBA star Randy Foye definitely helped me adapt to the college level as well as my dedication and love for the game.

Q2: Was it a challenge to manage your education, social life and the sport you love all at once? Were there any sacrifices you had to make while adjusting?

Spence: It was definitely a challenge trying to manage school, basketball, and my social life all at once. Some sacrifices I had to make were giving up some of my time with my friends and hanging out to make sure I was on top of my school work and basketball.

Q3: How would you describe your transition from high school to college, was it easy or hard for you?

Spence: I think the transition from high school to college was different in the sense that I was the guy for my high school then to come to college, and almost everyone was the best player on their relative teams, so it made things difficult. Also, the pace of the game in college is very fast in comparison to high school, so it took a little time to adapt in that aspect as well.

Q4: What was your most memorable highlight so far in your entire basketball career?

Spence: I think the most memorable highlight so far for me in my basketball career was being able to play basketball in college at the Division 1 level.

Q5: During your recruiting process to college basketball, what made you so attracted to that basketball program? What qualities did they have that interested you?

Spence:  I wasn’t highly recruited out of high school, so for me any Division 1 school that gave me the opportunity to play with their program attracted me. My biggest thing was that I always thought I could play and excel at the Division 1 level, so any school that took the chance on me I would have been forever grateful.