Ogungbemi-Jackson knows what it takes to make it

Despite it being his 10th year in pro basketball, this past season presented challenges that Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson has never faced before.

It started out in the Iranian Super League with a club called Tabiat, but with the country’s conflict with Israel rising, the Winnipegger made the decision to fly home after just 11 days.

“I just said, ‘Man, I don’t want to risk it.’ I knew my family wasn’t going to be comfortable if I’m here the whole time with these things going on, so, I decided to come back home,” said Ogungbemi-Jackson, who played his first nine seasons all over Europe.

“Once you become a father and a husband and you have a family, you have to make those types of decisions. I could’ve stayed, the team was ready for me to stay and wanted me to stay, but they understood why I wanted to go home.”

He wasn’t on Canadian soil for long as, two weeks later, the 33-year-old signed in Germany’s top tier with MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg. Ogungbemi-Jackson hit the ground running with them by averaging 19 points per game through the first two contests.

But then, two games later, his season was over.

“I just planted wrong and twisted my knee, and that was it,” he said. “Obviously, I’ve logged a lot of minutes and a lot of mileage so that was kind of part of it.”

Originally, they thought he’d be able to get back on the court after some extensive rehab, but after five months of working on it, it was determined that he would have to go under the knife. He had his surgery in Germany on April 3 and was told he’ll need four to six months to make a full recovery. He’s at the point now where he can work on things like ballhandling and shooting but still needs more time until he can go full speed.

“I’ve had injuries in the past, but never anything where I’ve had to have a surgery or something like that. It’s definitely been a challenge, but I think all the experiences that I’ve had, having my family with me, being older, being more mature, I can appreciate the journey that I’ve had,” said Ogungbemi-Jackson, who played at the University of Calgary after making a name for himself at Garden City Collegiate.

He views the setback as a blessing in disguise. Even though he was on the shelf, Ludwigsburg wanted him to stick around to take on a mentorship role since they had five players who were either rookies or sophomores.

“My whole career I’ve impacted the game being on the floor, so I wanted to see how I could impact the game being off the floor by just giving my advice to players and I genuinely feel like it was well received,” said Ogungbemi-Jackson.

The experience also gave him some time to work on Hoops Vision Consulting, a business he officially launched last week.

By offering mentorship, consulting and film breakdown, Ogungbemi-Jackson hopes his new project can help more players, especially Manitobans, reach their goals in the sport. He’s had countless young athletes and fellow pros reach out over the years for advice, from everything from training tips to how one should go about finding the right agent.

“I just get so many random questions and I always found so much fulfillment sharing that knowledge, because growing up, I didn’t really have that outlet coming from Winnipeg, a small town, which is on the rise in basketball now with a lot more things going on, but back then, we just didn’t have those outlets,” said Ogungbemi-Jackson.

“I feel like this is something that I genuinely want to do, and I genuinely want to help younger athletes, or even pros just like myself, just kind of help guide them on their journey because I know how hard it is, I know how competitive it is, and I know what it takes to make it.”

His career has taken him to many places, including Portugal, Spain, France, Finland, Denmark and Belarus, but, last summer, it finally brought him back home to Winnipeg as he signed on with the Sea Bears of the CEBL. The team ended up going 9-11 before getting bounced in the play-in round, and his role fluctuated throughout the season — especially after the Sea Bears added import point guard Justin Wright-Foreman — but Ogungbemi-Jackson still cherishes the fact that he got to suit up in front of his friends and family for the first time in years.

He averaged 13.7 points and 3.7 assists in 22.8 minutes over 16 games with the Sea Bears.

“It’s still an experience that I can say I’ll never forget, and not every professional athlete gets to literally play professionally in their hometown. I don’t think it went as good or as great as we would have wanted, but that’s part of the game,” he said.

“Not every year is going to be perfect, not every situation is going to be perfect. You might not be in a role that you agree with or that you’re happy with, but that’s part of the game, part of the business. I think experiences like that help me with the business as well and just give me perspective… Yeah, it was a bit challenging, but it helped me grow.”

Getting healthy is the priority right now and, once he is, his agent will find him another opportunity overseas for the 2025-26 campaign. He may be a business owner now, but Ogungbemi-Jackson’s playing career is far from over.

“If I can go four or five more years, I will,” he said. “As long as I’m healthy and I feel good and it makes sense for my family and I, I’ll continue to play.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca