Our favorite series returns with the William and Mary recruiting class of 2022! It’s hard to believe that a full year and a half has passed since we last watched the Tribe play at Kaplan Arena in February 2020 before the pandemic hit Virginia. But we at No Bid Nation remain hopeful about our Tribe and its new incoming members, who will someday take us to the fabled Big Dance.
Let’s give a warm William and Mary Welcome to Jack Karasinski, a Division 2 state champion with Catholic Central High School boys’ basketball, a 6-foot-7 wing with the Cougars and a rising senior from Grand Rapids, Mich.
Karasinski joins the team as our third Michigander, following rising senior — and fan favorite — Quinn Blair from Livonia and incoming freshman Julian Lewis from Ann Arbor. With Karasinski’s commitment to William and Mary, the Tribe’s scouting presence grows stronger in the Midwest, aided especially by assistant coach Julian Boatner, former Hoosier of Indiana.
Karasinski (or “Jack K.” as he’s known on and off the court) is the first player committed to our 2022 Tribe recruiting class. He announced his decision to attend William and Mary and play for the men’s basketball team Tuesday, Sept. 7, on Twitter, featuring head coach Dane Fischer and the Griffin — a hero of the recruiting process — in his larger-than-life announcement art.
Seeing Jack K.’s announcement, Brendan, John, and I couldn’t be more thrilled at his decision. He also received offers from Furman, Miami, Oakland, Toledo, Western Michigan, and Wofford — his recruitment netted 16 D-I offers in total — so we’re glad he’s chosen the College and our Tribe even as he prepares to leave Michigan and the Midwest in 2022.
Karasinski’s decision came just two days after he finished his official visit to the College in which he spent the Sept. 4–5 weekend with his host, sophomore guard Jake Milkereit, and attended two nights’ worth of team meetings and dinners at local favorites like Paul’s Deli.
“So when I got there, I thought I was gonna be the only guy from the Midwest.” Jack K. said. “But once you hang out with the guys, they’re really just normal people that have the same kind of those ‘core values’ that Dane always talks about. They have those instilled in them. There’s a lot of guys from the Midwest, so that was comforting for me. Distance is kind of an issue for my parents and going to games, being from Michigan.”
Karasinski added of his visit, “But when I got there, Dane was a really big part of it. Just making me feel comfortable, making me feel at home. Virginia — Williamsburg — is kind of different from Michigan. Lots of brick, all that stuff. So it was kind of a different atmosphere, but I was drawn to that, too. Just kind of taking my own journey. There was a lot of pressure for me to stay in the Midwest, just being a Michigan kid, being loyal to Michigan.”
What drew Karasinski to the College was its strong combination of academics and athletics, as well as the trust, consideration and respect he received from the Tribe’s coaching staff.
“Yeah, so I started out with [Boatner],” Jack K. “So he’s been really good. Obviously, he’s from the Midwest, he’s from Indiana, so we had that kind of connection. But yeah, he was really good. Lots of good information he distilled early in the process. We talked about hoops, we talked about hobbies, stuff like that. A lot about William and Mary, Coach Fisch,”
Jack K. spoke highly of Fischer as a college recruiter: “He made me a priority for the program, which is what I wanted. That was my first thing looking into a school. I don’t know, we kind of just connected. I think he trusts me, and I trust him. He trusts me to come in and be a good player, but most importantly a good character for the team and to bring that to the community as well.”
Hobbies came up frequently in the course of Karasinski’s discussions with the Tribe coaches. Whereas former guard Luke Loewe, now turned Minnesota Golden Gopher, made bass fishing his top priority off the court, Jack K. is an avid surfer and skateboarder with an almost equal level of passion.
Karasinski admits he may need to adjust to the brick walkways of Williamsburg before he brings his skating to the College.
“Yeah, yep. I live in Grand Rapids, the second biggest city in Michigan,” Jack K. said. “I live 15 minutes from downtown, my school’s located downtown, so me and all my homies would go down there and skate in the parks down there. And we do a little surfing, too. So we’ll do some wake surfing, wake skiing, tubing, all that stuff. Summers in Michigan are pretty fun, so those are kind of those two hobbies I would probably prioritize being the biggest ones.”
What drew Boatner, Fischer and the coaches to Karasinski in turn was his leadership, versatility, and scoring ability on the court, as well as his strong academic record and character, at one point earning a 3.5 GPA and being named Scholar of the Week.
Last year, as Jack K.’s Cougars went on an undefeated 20-0 run and seized a first-ever state title in school history, Karasinski averaged 19 points, five rebounds and three assists per game. For his efforts as a junior, he was named to the Michigan Associated Press All-State First Team as well as the Grand Rapids Dream Team.
During the state championship game last year against Battle Creek Pennfield, Jack K. finished with 18 points, five rebounds and two assists as the Cougars won 77-54 to claim the title.
“I had two fouls in the first half, so I sat for most of it,” Karasinski said. “I think we were tied at half. And then we’ve always been a third-quarter team, so we came out and started attacking more instead of settling — attack and kick. And we ended up pulling away. The story of our playoff run was that third quarter. We did that, and the rest is history.”
A versatile scorer who can guard bigs as well as other guards, who can space the floor and who considers his playmaking “a little underrated,” Jack K. plays to win and takes no prisoners. He leaves it all on the court.
“On the court, I’m pretty intense,” Karasinski said. “I’m all about dominance — see and kill. But off the court, I’m pretty calm, pretty chill. I mean I’ll joke around, but I won’t do anything too serious. Pretty calm, pretty chill, but on the court’s just flipping a switch.”
Preparing for another, final run at a state championship as a senior, Karasinski has no more distractions now that he’s announced his final commitment to William and Mary. He has several goals in mind, however, for when he finally arrives at our very Kaplan Arena.
“Coming in and giving good minutes to the team and making that immediate impact as a freshman, is kinda my goal,” Jack K. said. “So one of the things I’ve been working on is my body right now. I’m sitting at 205 [pounds]. I want to get to 215 before I enter college. So I’ve been working on putting on muscle, vertical, all that stuff. That’s the difference maker when a high school player is coming into the college game — the physicality piece and the pace and all that stuff.”
“And obviously making an NCAA appearance … is one of my goals when I get there,” he added. Or else we at No Bid Nation wouldn’t be here.
For Tribe hoops fans, Karasinski is ready to meet the crowd who will “pack the Kap” as we did before the pandemic, and win basketball games.
“I’m that kind of guy who will come up to you and shake your hand,” Jack K. said. “Just make as many connections as possible. I think this community’s great from what I’ve heard from Coach Fischer, and they love basketball. So if they’re gonna put their time into basketball, I’m gonna put my time into them and reach out to them and try to win games for the community.”
Welcome to the Tribe, Jack! Congratulations on your decision — excellently made! We’re very excited to see you play next year, and so are your teammates. See you soon. #GoTribe #OneTribeOneFamily
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