‘The guy’s doing a hell of a job’: Trayce Jackson-Davis is trying to carry Indiana back

There had been one too many forearm shivers, one too many elbows to the gut, one too many shoves, pushes, trips, and most of all, disparaging words. Just a nice kid.” IU assistant Tom Ostrom calls him “seriously one of the nicest, most kind-hearted human beings you’ll ever be around.” His mother, Karla, describes him as “so sweet.” The stepfather who raised him, Ray Jackson, says he’s “just a super sweet kid.” His biological father, Dale Davis, who played 16 years in the NBA, says he’s “a good kid, a really good kid.” Those are wonderful qualities in a son-in-law. “It was hard sometimes because I really didn’t understand why Dale wasn’t always there,” Trayce says. “But I think I’m my own player.” Most of the time Dale was content to let Ray play the bad cop, but he wasn’t shy about letting Trayce know when he was playing too passively. “I don’t think he was tough enough on me, honestly.” Like his hyphenated surname, Trayce’s game reflects both sides of his personality, and he is still working his way through that duality.