Jobe looking to open lanes for guards

When asked about his team earlier this month, IU coach Tom Crean’s first response was, “We’re going to be small.”

While the Hoosiers might be undersized, one rather noticeable exception to that statement is Tijan Jobe.

Jobe, a junior college transfer from The Gambia – a small country in Africa – is a 7-foot, 255-pound center, who is the only healthy player on the team, other than freshman Tom Pritchard, taller than 6-foot-6.

Even after injured senior forward Kyle Taber returns to the lineup, Jobe is still expected to see considerable action this season, purely because he fills IU’s glaring need for a big man.

Last season at Olney Central College in Illinois, Jobe averaged four points and four rebounds. But with his size and length, Jobe said he can be an asset for the Hoosiers on defense.

“Of course, I have a long wingspan,” Jobe said. “I’ll make use of that.”

Offensively, Jobe said his coaches have been working with him to help develop a mid-range jump shot. Although Jobe admits he prefers to have his back to the basket on offense, he said the coaching staff has been working with him on facing up on to open lanes for the guards. Jobe said his big role on offense will be to set screens for the many guards on the team and create open space for them to make plays.

Quizzed about the way the team is coming together, the big man said he has noticed changes in every player on the team since they’ve started playing together.

“Everybody’s getting better everyday,” Jobe said.

Jobe is one of 11 new players on roster, but unlike most, the 7-footer has previous ties with Bloomington.

He arrived to the United States via the African Hoop Opportunities Providing an Education Foundation, an organization run by Mark Adams, a Bloomington resident. The tallest new Hoosier said he lived in Indiana before going to high school in North Carolina.

Jobe said since he has come to the United States, he hasn’t been able to go back to The Gambia, and although he said he loves Bloomington and has a brother and sister who work in Washington, he still misses his home.

“I miss all my friends back home,” Jobe said. “I miss my family.”

Jobe said he hopes to be able to visit his family overseas next year, but until then, he will be counted on by Crean, a man impressed with Jobe’s work ethic.

“We feel he has a lot of room for growth in the sense of improving on both the defensive and offensive end, and we love the fact that he plays extremely hard,” Crean said in a May press release when Jobe signed to play with the Hoosiers. “His height and wingspan is something that our team was in great need of.”

The coach on staff responsible to help Jobe’s growth will be Roshown McCleod, a former NBA player hired to help develop the Hoosier’s big men. Jobe said he has practiced against McCleod, but he wouldn’t go into who outplayed who.

When asked if he could “take” McCleod in a game, Jobe quietly said, “probably, maybe.”