Player Profile

The Center of Attention

He stands an imposing and menacing six feet, seven inches tall. He weighs a rock solid two hundred and fifty pounds. His enormous frame is supported by two equally enormous feet, that require custom made size fifteen shoes. Yet despite a body of such colossal proportions he is quick and nimble. He moves his six foot seven inch frame with the flair of a flamenco dancer and the grace of a ballerina. The fluidity of his motions are breathtaking. This immensely talented individual is Joel Jacobson, a star on the Yeshiva University basketball team.

Joel was born in Champagne, Illinois, a small college town in the heartland of America, where he attended University High School. His first love was soccer. He was a star forward on his soccer team as he lead the team to a division title, but that summer Joel grew an amazing seven inches and realized that basketball was his calling. “I am the tallest Jew in all of Champagne and I realized that my great height would be best utilized playing basketball,” said Jacobson.

Joel began to climb the ladder to greatness in basketball, winning numerous awards. Displaying consistency, he was selected as a four time conference all-star. He was paid tribute to by his high school in a touching ceremony before his final home game. Joel was elected into the school’s hall of fame, and had his legendary number 1 jersey retired and raised to the rafters of the gymnasium. Joel was extremely grateful to his high school for bestowing these honors upon him. “It was one of the proudest moments of my athletic career. I could hardly contain my emotions out there. I had to battle back the tears. Having my number retired meant so much to me; it was a culmination of a career that I built with hard work and dedication.”

Joel moved on to YU amid much fanfare and immediately secured a starting position on the basketball team. His combination of strength, speed, and explosiveness made him a sensation. Opponents gaped in awe at the awesome talent that he possessed. Joel lead the team in scoring and rebounding last season with averages of 16.8 points and 9.7 rebounds respectively.

Jacobson is also the team’s captain, which carries a special responsibility. “My job is to keep the team on the same page. I have to make sure that everyone is comfortable and relaxed in the system. Team unity and the cohesiveness of its players is essential for success.”

Jacobson, praising Coach Jonathan Halpert about the great influence that Halpert has exerted on his game, said, “He always stressed the mental aspects of the game. As for the physical part of the game, Coach Halpert has really polished my skills; I’m not strictly a post up player anymore, I can now play effectively facing the basket.”

Joel has also accumulated a long list of awards and accomplishments, including ECAC player of the week, MVP of the Metropolitan Collegiate Basketball Festival, and the Red Sarachek Award.

While Joel has devoted countless painstaking hours on the basketball court attempting to perfect his game, he has spent many more hours in the classroom attaining the skills necessary to succeed in life. Joel is an economics major, who takes a high concentration of computer science courses. This year he created his own computer consulting firm called Compuhension Inc. He serves as both its president and C.E.O.

This past summer Joel participated in the tryouts for the Maccabi Games, competing against top Division I players. He made a tremendous impression on the coaches, and made it all the way to the final cut. Joel also maintained a rigorous workout schedule, which included hours a day of jumping rope to increase his agility.

In regards to the upcoming season, Jacobson envisions great success. “We lost some important players due to graduation, but the core of the team is returning, and I have confidence that the new players coming in will do a nice job.”