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Ishaan Jagiasi is in his third-year of college majoring in Economics and plays for the men's basketball team at Penn State. Ishaan played high school basketball at West Virginia powerhouse Huntington Prep, a school that produced NBA players Miles Bridges, Andrew Wiggins and Thomas Bryant. Jagiasi played in multiple games for his two years with Huntington Prep, as the Fighting Irish earned the top team ranking in West Virginia, appeared in the national top 25, and finished 21-5 his senior year. He also graduated with high honors and a 3.9 GPA.
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When did you make the decision of joining the men's basketball team?
I made the decision in July [2021], there was a new coaching staff here at Penn State and they were really close with my highschool coaching staff and so they let me know that I could come here and make an impact.
In your bio, it says you are a walk-on student athlete. I think that's awesome! What made you think about Basketball in your third year of college?
I was already in the transfer portal, I was transferring from the University of Alabama [as a practice player], so I knew I wanted to play for my last two years.
What would you say was the hardest part of being a walk on this season?
The hardest part is definitely when you don't play as much but you really want to be a leader and help the team win. I have always been a very vocal person, always wanted to lead so I can bring up the energy in practice and on the bench and stuff like that.
Do you think that your walk-on experience took more effort instead of going through the recruiting process? Why or why not?
I went through the recruiting process when I was in high school. I played at Huntington Prep, it's a well-known basketball school in Huntington, West Virginia. My high school team, my senior year, ended up having two NBA players, 15 DI guys on the team. So I was getting looked at by lower level DI schools, offers from DII, DII but I knew that I wanted to a higher university.
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What tips and tricks do you have for prospective athletes considering a walk-on experience?
You have to be ready for it, both physically and mentally. I think you need to be ready to make that transition. A lot of us, even the walk-ons on the team, were the star players of our high school, and you have to be ready that that might not be the case and you need to be ready for an opportunity for it to present itself.
What's your favorite thing about being a D1 athlete?
The best experience has been the fans and the school as a whole. I like our whole coaching staff, so definitely being able to continue on with your basketball career is a blessing.
What keeps you motivated despite the challenges of being a walk on?
I would say, the love of the game. I still love to play, I still love to work hard, get better every single day.
You can follow Ishaan on Instagram @ishaan.
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* Originally published on May 19, 2022, by Lilia Farach
