President Leo Lambert. Dr. Earl Danieley. These two faces are among the most recognizable at Elon University today. Close to that level stands a 6-foot-1-inch senior from Zionsville, Ind.
Senior guard Jack Isenbarger of the Elon men’s basketball team has become a point of discussion among Elon students due to his ever-present walking boot on his right foot. The good news for Elon fans: the boot is only precautionary.
Isenbarger is working his way back from what Elon head coach Matt Matheny referred to as “stress reaction” in that oh-so-famous right foot. The injury caused Isenbarger to miss the first three games of the regular season, and he has gradually been increasing his workload since.
Through his first six games, Isenbarger has averaged 6.2 points per game in 20.5 minutes per game. Coming off of a season in which he shot 36.3% and averaged 13.2 points per game, Isenbarger is still warming up to his true potential. He is, however, pleased with his effort and intensity in an abbreviated season.
“I just want to play hard and give everything I’ve got effort-wise,” Isenbarger said. “As far as that goes, I think I can be satisfied. Offensively, if things aren’t falling, they’re not falling. I’m still coming back from the foot injury, just trying to give everything I’ve got effort-wise, trying to help lead the best I can.”
In Elon’s two home games in the NIT Season Tip-Off, Isenbarger turned in his two best performances of the season, a 13-point night against Metropolitan State University of Denver and a 12-point night against Georgia State University. Matheny called the Georgia State game, one in which Isenbarger was 6-6 from the free throw line, a “really good game” from Isenbarger.
However, Matheny realizes that his star still has work to do, especially transitioning to playing the point guard position at times for Elon.
“He’s rusty, he just is,” Matheny said. “(Against Virginia Military Institute on Dec. 3) he was really good. Jack played a lot of minutes at the point (against VMI) and I thought he did a really good job being the floor leader. He’s not 100%- I’m not talking physically, he’s just rusty. He’s coming.”
One benefit to Isenbarger’s return has been his ability to utilize the ten pounds of muscle he added in the offseason.
“We got a new strength coach (Ted Perlak) who has really helped our guys put on weight and get stronger,” Isenbarger said.
Additionally, Matheny has a potential dilemma on his hands when picking his starting five. At the open of the 2012-2013 season, Elon’s starting guards were Isenbarger, then-sophomore Austin Hamilton and then-junior Sebastian Koch. When Hamilton went down with a torn ACL in January, then-freshman Tanner Samson stepped up in his place. Come time for the 2013-2014 season, Hamilton was healthy yet Isenbarger was hurt, so Samson slid over into Isenbarger’s old starting spot. Samson’s numbers have been impressive so far- 12.8 points per game, 55% shooting from the field and 56% shooting from behind the arc.
Now, the question for Matheny is if and when to put Isenbarger back in the starting lineup.
“I haven’t thought much about it,” Matheny said. “We’ve had so many games in a row that I haven’t felt at all that we’ve needed to make a change in the starting lineup. He’s getting his way back into it- he’s a starter. He’ll always play a lot of minutes.”
As for that boot, Isenbarger appreciates the fame it has gained and has a message for the concerned Elon fans.
“It’s just a precautionary thing. It’s good to know people care about you, asking about it. It should be off soon, though.”
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