There is no question those who see Bryan Station guard, Jaylen Beckham, are impressed with his basketball skills. He has the capacity to be special. "This is a kid that has Division-1 talent and there are few schools who have expressed interest in him," says Bryan Station coach Michael Allen. "He brings a true point guard skill. I think he is a natural and the bottom line is he makes everyone else around him better."
Making your teammates is one of the roles of a team's best player...but sometimes forgotten is also making yourself better on and off the court. As a freshman and sophomore at Lexington Catholic, Beckham was getting offers from DePaul, Washington, Texas A&M, Alabama and other big named schools. However, over the last two years, Beckham has been something of a nomad. He left Catholic for St. Benedict Prep School in New Jersey, then to Huntington Prep, then back to Lexington. Allen talked about Jaylen's journey, "Sometimes you just gotta stick something out and stop running and listen to what everyone tells you. The bottom line is with some of these student-athletes everyone doesn't have their best interests."
Beckham says he has made mistakes by listening to the wrong people. "The biggest thing is keeping your inner-circle tight," Beckham admits. "It's learning who to trust and who not to trust. It can be a cold world out here, but you have believe is some people and I have found that at Bryan Station." The lessons Beckham has learned, some the hard way, has cost him valuable playing time and has turned some schools against him. As a sophomore, Beckham had offers from the likes of Washington, Texas A&M, Alabama, and DePaul, just to name a few. Many schools, who originally sought Beckham's services have backed off, so he feels as if he must prove himself all over again. "I know some are not there anymore, but when they do see me again, they will know I still have a little left in the tank."
A year ago, Beckham was ranked as the #11 point guard in the nation by Rivals.com, but Beckham's career has not been the norm. He did not play last year, and was only ruled eligible by the KHSAA in January, missing more than a year and half of basketball. Beckham says he has done a lot of soul searching, "At one point, I felt like basketball was taken away from me. I have really cherished these last two or three months because you only get one shot at playing high school basketball." Beckham has been in contact with Charlotte, Dayton, Marshall, Georgia Tech, Texas A&M, and New Mexico State.