THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 21, 1996 TAG: 9602210548
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
A dozen years have passed, and Joe Jakubick, a marketing rep for Ohio Edison, still finds it hard to believe.
``Sometimes you look back, and it's like, `Geez, I did that?' '' Jakubick said.
In 1984, Jakubick, a guard for the Akron Zips, had the hottest hand in the land. Jakubick dropped in a cool 30, night in and night out, and finished as the nation's leading scorer with an average of 30.1.
``I never really thought of leading the nation,'' he said. ``It was sort of the role I had with the team. They looked on me to score.
``The thing that I took the most pride in, was not so much my scoring, as my shooting percentage. Let's face it, you can average a lot of points if you shoot enough. I shot over 50 percent.''
Jakubick, now 33, was a bright spot on a Zips team that finished 8-19 and lost a record number of overtime games.
``We were sort of snakebit,'' he said.
With the Zips struggling, the community, and Jakubick's teammates, got behind his run at the title. The 6-foot-5 Jakubick became something of a local celebrity.
``I got a lot of publicity, maybe not nationally, but definitely locally,'' he said.
Jakubick also got drafted, in the seventh round, by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
``I went to camp, I was there probably a month,'' he said. ``I did pretty well, I was happy with how I played. But a lot depends on timing, and I don't think I was in the right place at the right time.''
Jakubick thought of pursuing a career in the CBA or overseas, but didn't want to stray too far from his family in nearby Mansfield. He came back to school, finished his degree, and settled in Akron, where remnants of his former celebrity remain.
``It's little things,'' Jakubick said. ``Sometimes my wife will be writing a check and people will ask: `Are you related to . . . ?''
Jakubick's name still rings bells in Akron, although not as many as it once did. It never rang many bells nationally, which was OK by Jakubick.
But it'll stay there, in the record books, next to names like Maravich and Robertson. And every once in a while, when Jakubick thinks about that, he realizes:
``It's sort of a nice feeling.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
AKRON BEACON JOURNAL
Joe Jakubick
by CNB