Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

‘Underdog’: Jakari Singleton hopes to make music for highly-ranked Reardan at State B

Reardan boys basketball player Jakari Singleton dunks during practice on Thursday in Reardan, Wash.  (Tyler Tjomsland/The Spokesman-Review)

You may not recognize his name, but once you get to know him, there’s no forgetting Jakari Singleton.

The 6-foot-4 senior at Reardan stands out on the basketball court, in the halls of the school, and even in the school’s pep band.

There are a couple of obvious reasons he might not be a household name … yet. But heading into district play – with sights on making noise at the State B tournament at the Arena the first weekend in March – Singleton is poised to gather headlines over the next few weeks.

Reardan is only a little more than 20 miles outside of Spokane, but it seems like 200 sometimes. The small town carved out of the western prairie has an idyllic farm town setting, but that doesn’t always make it a hotbed for high school basketball in recent years, although the Reardan boys won six state titles from 1966 to 1982.

Traditional Northeast 2B powers Northwest Christian, St. George’s and Liberty, and newcomer to the classification Freeman are much closer to town – with defending State 2B champion Colfax looming – and it’s apparent why Reardan sometimes gets overlooked in what many consider the toughest league in the classification in the state.

After a lopsided 93-34 win over Kettle Falls on Wednesday, Reardan is 17-1 overall – with its only loss to Idaho 4A No. 1 Bonners Ferry – and 10-0 in the Northeast 2B North, leading the division by two games with two to go. Reardan also own wins over Northeast 1A schools Medical Lake and Colville this season – both games in which the Screaming Eagles scored 90-plus points.

Singleton is averaging nearly a double-double, with 15.3 points and 9.8 rebounds per game on 65.7% shooting, and 3.1 assists and 2.3 steals per game.

The overall impressive resume has Reardan at No. 5 in the state 2B RPI – with Colfax (16-1, 7-0) No. 1 and Freeman (14-3, 6-1) No. 3.

“We’ve always been this underdog team, like we don’t know where we stack up,” Singleton said after practice on Thursday. “It’s kind of a weird switch being on top.”

But clinching the top spot in the division with a 63-39 win over NWC on Jan. 24 opened a lot of eyes – even on the team.

“We came off that game with a pretty good win, and we just kind of realized that we are a high-level team,” Singleton said. We just need to play like it, and we need to start thinking and doing the things that those high-level teams do. … I kind of think people had a preconception. I think people knew that we’d be pretty good. I think it surprised some people how good we’d be, but I think they definitely know now.”

“He’s a tremendous athlete,” Reardan coach Jake Green said of Singleton. “Especially at our level. We just try to get him more fundamentally sound, more efficient, and he’s bought in. He’s a good kid, and he wants to be better. He believes in coaching. He wants to be coached.”

One reason Reardan might have sneaked up on its opponents this season is Singleton. He was something of a mystery entering the season having missed his entire junior season due to a shoulder injury sustained during the last football practice of the season while preparing for a playoff game.

“It was disappointing, for sure,” Singleton said of the injury. “I hated not being on the court with my teammates. But it also gave me a different perspective on things. Like, I might not be the player I am today if I hadn’t gotten hurt.”

He spent the season as an unofficial assistant for Green, earning the nickname “Coach Kar.” He even got to wear a coach’s polo during games.

“I saw things that I could improve on,” Singleton said about being sidelined. “We really worked on skill work last year – that was really a big emphasis. Seeing my teammates kind of struggle at the beginning of the year, but slowly get better through the grind, that was super fulfilling and helped me see where I needed to work on my game as well.”

“He wasn’t (healthy), so everyone else had to step up,” Green said. “And he had to sit back and see the coaching that we were doing, what we were trying to do. I tried to get him involved as much as we could.”

It also allowed Singleton to grow into more of a leadership role.

“I am a way better leader than I was as a sophomore,” he said. “I think it really helped kind of stepping back and seeing what it takes to be a leader, what it takes to be that bigger voice and taking on that bigger role – like hold holding people accountable, even if you don’t want to.”

That leadership role extends off the court as well. Singleton participates in student government and FFA, and plays trumpet in the school band – something he’s done since sixth grade. He plays the national anthem with the band then heads onto the court for the game.

It almost took him by surprise recently when someone mentioned to him that his senior night is coming up.

“It blows my mind,” he said. “I just had my 18th birthday the other day. I still feel like a kid. It is crazy – like, I’m 18. That is insane.”

Though he may still feel like a little kid, Singleton’s maturity among his peers is obvious.

“It’s weird because I still view myself as, you know, a sophomore or freshman sometimes. But then I realize I am someone who people look up to,” he said. “In the classroom, sometimes I do have to be that annoying guy who’s like, ‘Come on guys, let’s focus in and just dial it back a little.’ “

Singleton is still mulling over offers to play at the next level, and may opt for the junior college route to start. It’s something that Green is well familiar with – after starting four years at Wellpinit and earning all-league his last two seasons, he played junior college at Peninsula College before heading back to Wellpinit, then Reardan, to begin his coaching career.

“Whoever gets him isn’t going to be sorry,” Green said. “As soon as we got the job here, we talked to him about ‘We don’t want you to be a post. We don’t want you to be a guard. We want you to be a basketball player.’ “