Meet the Freshmen: BYU’s Jake Toolson

Shooters are hard to come by in this day and age of college basketball. So much emphasis has been put on the athletic facet of the game that the art of shooting has sort of fallen to the wayside.

When Dave Rose learned he was going to be able to add yet another shooter to an already abundant roster, he must have been ecstatic. These type’s of player do not come easily, especially as walk-ons.

Although Jake Toolson will eventually be put on scholarship, the freshmen sharpshooter will walk-on to the BYU basketball team this season due to a complication with his LDS Mission. Toolson, a 6-foot-5 wing from Gilbert, Ariz., will provide the Cougars with outside shooting, among other things in the 2014-2015 season.

While at Highland High School

Toolson, who spent four seasons on varsity at Highland High School, put up some absolutely ridiculous numbers against some solid competition in Arizona.

Throughout his career, Toolson was a dynamic scorer, netting 2007 career points and averaging 19.1 points. The nephew of BYU legend Danny Ainge – fun fact for all of you that were unaware – shot 52.2 percent from the field and 38.0 percent from 3-point range in that span.

Here are his statistics year by year, which are impressive to say the least.

Freshmen: 10.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game

Sophomore: 18.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game

Junior: 18.9 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.0 blocks per game

Senior: 27.3 points, 12.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.6 steals per game

For his tremendous efforts, Toolson earned first-team all-state honors his junior and senior seasons. The freshman small forward committed to BYU in February during his junior season, choosing the Cougars over Arizona State, Boston College, Utah State and Saint Mary’s. However, with all of the connections to the university, BYU was the obvious choice for Toolson.

Impact at BYU

Obviously Toolson’s plans were thrown off course with an unexpected medical condition that prevented him from serving his mission, but BYU will benefit greatly from his skill set in 2014-2015.

Along with Chase Fischer and Dalton Nixon, Toolson will add yet another shooter to a roster that already featured Tyler Haws, Skyler Halford and Anson Winder. Toolson will likely serve as a reserve for the small forward and shooting guard positions next season, and will be a nice situational player for BYU.

Down the road, Toolson possesses the skill to be a starter on the wing for the Cougars. It might not happen immediately, especially if Toolson is able to sort things out and serve his mission after all following this season, but Toolson will get his chance when more playing time opens up.