Former student-athletes share experiences playing around the world during pandemic
From online workouts to postponed seasons, pro athletes Jazzmarr Ferguson and Joe Jackson adjust to the new COVID-19 normal
By Stephen Utz
Jazzmarr Ferguson has played professional basketball on three different continents (North America, Australia and Europe) throughout his eight-year professional career and the 2019-20 Italian Serie A2 season had a lot of the same challenges as previous years: battling injuries, a midseason coaching change and the grind of a professional season. Ferguson handled the ups and downs and put together a successful campaign, helping lead his new team, UCC Assigeco Piacenza, to the brink of a playoff berth. He was an offensive catalyst for the team and was second in the league in scoring at 21.6 points per game and eventually received All-League First Team honors at the end of the season. “I think that the season for me was another strong season finishing up my eighth year professionally,” Ferguson said. “We had some ups and downs as a team, but I think I was one of the guys that was able to bring us some consistency and play the role that that was given to me as far as being a leader on the team. We were on pace to be a playoff team. And that was something that particular club hadn't achieved before at that level.” Ferguson had been a standout sharpshooter for the Grenadiers during his time at IU Southeast from 2007-2011 so the offensive productivity was no surprise. He helped lead the Grenadiers to four-straight KIAC titles and set the program on its current trajectory as a top-25 perennial national power. He finished his career as the Grenadiers’ all-time leading scorer with 2,042 points, a record that still stands today. He also holds the single-game scoring record with 46 points, which he set during his senior year in 2010.
He was named a NAIA First Team All-American after his senior season in 2010-11, the only Grenadier to be named an All-American first team selection. Then everything changed. Ferguson lived in Piacenza, Italy, where his pro team was based. In late February, the first confirmed case of coronavirus was diagnosed, and quickly the outbreak swept through Italy. More than 230,000 confirmed cases have been diagnosed to date, with more than 34,000 deaths, according to Google News. “First and foremost, it was very unexpected,” he said. “I think nobody was as prepared for it as they could have been. Once the COVID hit, it was a very surreal situation because Italy was the most devastated country in Europe to be hit because it hit us first.” The country imposed a military lockdown, with residents only leaving their homes for essential trips. Pro basketball stopped for Ferguson, and he became essentially homebound for the next three months. “It was life-changing,” he said. “I was very fortunate to have my girlfriend and my two puppies there with me most of the time. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, but it was definitely a very surreal situation. I think it's something that has altered what we consider normal life today.”
Former student-athlete Jazzmarr Ferguson plays basketball for the UCC Assigeco Piacenza team in Italy.
Like many people as the crisis unfolded, Ferguson was unsure of how long he would have to remain at home, and his club believed that it might be able to get an exemption to have its players return to practice. He had to adjust to the new normal and began in-home workouts. He turned to a friend back in Kentucky to help keep him in shape for whatever happened next. His friend was former University of Kentucky men’s basketball player and current Kentucky State University Wellness Director Twany Beckham. “Initially, the team did not issue in-home workout programs,” he said. “But after three to four days… I'm a guy that loves to workout. I love to be in the gym, and I like to stay active to keep my body activated. So, I immediately started to do in-home workouts. It was something that I started doing on my own at first and something that I was very consistent with throughout the entire three-month hiatus.” Ferguson began working out with Beckham via Zoom, and it became a daily ritual that continues to this day. The classes have grown to accommodate 15-17 people each day. It helped keep him connected with people back in the United States as well. “I think that's something that we're going to continue with along with me being able to be out on my own and also being able to go to the weight room,” he said. “[The workouts are] something that definitely kept me sane. It gave me something to do, which occupied a couple of hours of my day, every day. So I was very grateful that I had the mindset and the other participants to keep me motivated to be able to do that while we were locked down.”
As Italy began to deal with the massive surge of infections, Ferguson tried to explain to people in the U.S. what was coming.
“Once we understood what was going on in Italy, I tried to be as informative as possible to the people that I communicated with here in the States,” he said. “I tried to be as informative as possible with them, but I just felt like nobody in the States took it seriously because it hadn't hit here [yet].” Ferguson watched the virus sweep through the United States as it had in Italy. After three months in his apartment, he was able to return home to Louisville in May and continues to work out in preparation for the next basketball season in the fall. His contract expired after the 2019-20 season, and he is unsure if he will return to Italy, but he knows his life in Italy and the basic tenants of Italian life have changed. “Life in Italy, as I knew it, was very free,” he said. “I practiced twice a day, but I went out, and I had dinner multiple times per week. I was able to go out to functions with my family and my teammates. I had just had my brother come visit in January, and the COVID hit mid-to-late February. Life was different, man. It was very strange to be in a place that I could sit at home, but not being able to do my job, not being able to play the game.” Ferguson believes Italian life will still look very different when he returns in the fall than before the pandemic began. “I am a guy, during the week or on the weekends, I like to be active,” he said. “I like to go to different cities. I like to sightsee. I like to go to wineries and do wine tastings and maybe step out to a club or a hookah bar or something. Those things will be always second-guessed moving forward on my end at least.”
Joe Jackson plays for the IU Southeast Men's Basketball Team in 2017.
For Joe Jackson, the experience as a professional basketball player abroad has been much different. The 2018 graduate played for the Grenadiers from 2014-2018 and set the Grenadiers’ career blocks record with 242 blocks. He was named an NAIA All-American Honorable Mention selection in 2018. After graduating, he played one season for the Seattle Mountaineers of the ABA before heading to the Darwin Eagles in Australia on Feb. 3. Darwin, Australia, only has 28 confirmed cases of coronavirus and instituted sweeping measures early on to curtail the spread. “I left the States right when COVID first came on the scene, so I didn’t really experience how things are in the U.S.,” Jackson said. “All l I can go off of is what I hear from close friends and family and what I see on the news. It’s a much different experience in Darwin. The government here acted fast and closed the borders pretty early in the process. There’s only been a total of about 28 cases here, and most of them were people who were traveling back from other countries, and they were forced to quarantine right away.” Though the borders were closed quickly, a lockdown like the one Ferguson experienced in Italy was never used by the government. “A lot of businesses were forced to close, and social distancing rules were in place, but there was never a lockdown or anything like that, they didn’t even close the schools,” Jackson said. “With all that being said, there are now zero cases here, and last week everything was open and back to ‘normal.’”
Jackson used the time off to explore his new home. He spent his days practicing and then would go sightseeing and then helping out at a local school. I’ve been more adventurous since coming here, doing things I never thought I’d enjoy doing (fishing, hiking, camping and visiting waterfalls),” he said. “Other than that, for me a typical day would be waking up at 5 a.m. to lift weights, then going to work at a school where I help kids who have a hard time behaving or just staying focused in a classroom. After work, I go to the gym to get shots up and work on my game. I go home, eat dinner and go to bed and repeat the process.” Jackson credits the Eagles’ team officials for making the transition to a foreign country during a difficult time fairly easy, though there has been some turnover throughout the league as players from other countries head back home. “My team has been very supportive in this time,” he said. “I know a lot of imports were forced to leave or wanted to go back home. But my coach and president of my club encouraged me to stay and get through the situation.” The basketball season in Australia was set to resume on June 11. The layoff did not hurt Jackson as the Eagles opened the season with an 80-57 win and Jackson recorded 21 points and 24 rebounds. The 2020 season runs through early December in Australia. Though these are uncertain times, sports are beginning to return around the world and with it, a sense of normalcy.