Merrill’s Paul Jesperson had announced his intention to leave the Virginia basketball program after two seasons, but he talked Monday about his hopes for a new start at NCAA D1 Northern Iowa.
“I’m excited,” he said. “I’ve been down here since June and it’s going well. I think I’ll be able to show my versatility a lot better, instead of just catching and shooting the ball. They don’t have a player similar to me, with my size and skill set.”
Jesperson, a 6’7″, 197-pound forward, will be sidelined for a year – per NCAA rules – but that doesn’t mean he’ll be taking it easy.
“I’ll be lifting weights three times a week throughout the season; the other guys not nearly as much,” Paul said. “I’ll be doing a lot of individual work-outs with the coaches. A lot of workouts just to get my overall game better. A lot of shooting stuff, getting to the rack and finishing with different finishes. Just getting my game to a higher level.”
Jesperson is leaving behind the Atlantic Coast Conference with Duke and North Carolina, to come back to the Valley. But it’s the Missouri Valley Conference, with its automatic NCAA tourney berth, a mite step above the Wis. Valley. Recent March Madness darlings Creighton and Wichita State are the conference top dogs, but Jesperson feels UNI will give them fits.
“This year we’ve got a real good chance of making the tournament,” he said. “In two years, I think we’ll be really good.”
UNI has won 20 or more games in five consecutive seasons – the longest active streak in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Panthers have qualified for postseason play in eight of their last 10 seasons, including five trips to the NCAA tournament.
Jesperson saw action in 56 games with 33 starts over two seasons at Virginia. In the 2012-13 season, he averaged 4.7 points, shot 36.1% from the field, 37% from 3-point range and 78.6% from the free throw line.
He was named the Wisconsin Associated Press and Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior at MHS.