Yorkville’s Braydon Porter, Joey Jakstys primed to take next step as sophomores

Yorkville coach John Holakovsky will be the first to admit he eased Braydon Porter and Joey Jakstys’ assimilation into varsity basketball last season.

As talented as any players in the Foxes’ program, the two nonetheless did not begin their freshman seasons on varsity. They did not break the starting lineup until after Christmas.

Jakstys, because of an injury, only wound up starting about three weeks.

The training wheels are off, however.

Now rising sophomores with Division I college potential, the 6-foot-4 Porter and 6-7 Jakstys know who they are and what their role is on Yorkville.

“It’s pretty clear they are our two best players,” Holakovsky said. “When there are a bunch of D1 coaches on the baseline at our games, they know why they are there. That clarity helps them and helps everybody.”

Porter and Jakstys put their names on the map with their performances at June live events at Riverside-Brookfield and Romeoville. They look primed to take the next step for a Yorkville team coming off a 13-17 season that could play four sophomores.

“Hopefully we can make another step,” Holakovsky said. “The biggest thing is, they are so much more confident in who they are at the varsity level, playing more confident and aggressive. It was not necessarily an issue before, but it’s tough being a freshman and stepping in and playing with a bunch of seniors and juniors.”

Porter and Jakstys are still two of the younger players on Yorkville, but return some of the most varsity experience.

That was especially true during the Foxes’ games in June. Three of Yorkville’s seniors, including starting guards Gabe Sanders and Frankie Pavlik, were away at baseball events. Another returning senior, Alonn Flint, broke his ribs at the first event of the live period.

“We were playing Braydon and Joey and a bunch of incoming juniors who have never played varsity basketball,” Holakovsky said. “Our record was not great, but at the same time it’s a good experience for those kids, an opportunity to figure stuff out. Some might need to play this year.”

Porter and Jakstys both agreed that absorbing what they learned last season helped them take the reins of an inexperienced group.

“Braydon and I definitely had a new learning experience with trying to become leaders for the team,” Jakstys said. “What really helped was seeing how [graduated seniors] Taelor [Clements] and Christian [Harrell] led the team last year. We just tried to mimic what they did.”

An explosive athlete, Porter averaged 10.0 points and 4.3 rebounds as a freshman. He’s worked to develop his midrange game to complement his natural athletic skills.

“Definitely been working on my shooting,” Porter said. “When teams go up against me, I know on the scouting report it says, ‘Let that guy shoot.’ That is what drove me to get in the gym to work on my shot.

“Definitely working on my midrange shot. I feel like I can get downhill pretty well. If I can pull up and take a shot it will be hard to predict what I’ll do, hard to guard in general.”

Jakstys is the younger brother of former Yorkville standout Jason Jakstys, going into his sophomore year at Illinois.

“But the biggest misconception people have until seeing Joey play is he is not his brother. His skill set is completely different,” Holakovsky said. “If I put Joey at the five, he’s not super comfortable. But on the perimeter, he is a good shooter, he can handle the ball, going to the basket. He is not a post player even though he is tall.”

A player with a high motor, Jakstys has been Yorkville’s most consistent shooter this summer and plays like a guard. It’s no coincidence.

“My dad and I have been in the gym a lot over the last couple years trying to improve my game and kind of be like a guard,” Jakstys said. “We wanted to do this so that I could fit whatever role I needed to help the team.”

Four starters will return for Yorkville with the two senior guards and two sophomores, and Holakovsky expects Nate Kubin to be the fifth starter.

Flint is another returning senior, with Joseph Christian and potentially Jayden Ruth two more sophomores on the Yorkville varsity.

Holakovsky anticipates Porter and Jakstys will get a ton of recruiting interest in the coming years, with one high major Division I team from an SEC school already reaching out about both.

“Don’t know when they’ll start getting offers; high majors care about the portal, and they’re just sophomores,” Holakovsky said. “Don’t know exactly when their recruiting will blow up. To me it’s likely both are high major kids, at least Division I.”