by: Scott Mammoser
One of the most heavily-scouted prospects in the nation, Tori Jankoska’s final game in a green and white Michigan State uniform saw her score 26 points on 7-of-12 shooting, a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line and a game high eight rebounds in 40 minutes. Everything seemed storybook, except the result, a 73-61 loss to Arizona State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday in Columbia, S.C. Her career ends with a program-record 2,212 points, about 400 more than Aerial Powers had during her career, which ended last season.
“Playing at Michigan State has been a dream come true for me,” Jankoska said. “Playing for Coach (Suzy) Merchant, with my teammates the past four years, I really couldn’t have asked for a better college experience than I got playing for this program.”
A 5-foot-8 shooting guard, Jankoska is also 14th on the Big Ten’s career scoring list. Her name stands besides some of college basketball’s greatest guards: Rachel Banham, Kelly Mazzante, Katie Smith, Maggie Lucas, Lindsay Whalen, and Shereka Wright. Only Shawn Respert and Steve Smith from the storied men’s program at MSU have more points. This year, she improved her average from 15 to 22.5 points per game and surpassed Powers’ single-season record from 2015-16, as well. Consistent each night, she scored at least 13 points in every game, and played less than 30 minutes once- a blowout win over Northeastern.
“That’s a great kid first,” Merchant said. “I’ve coached a lot of kids. I’ve never had a kid get more pound-for-pound, ounce-for-ounce out of her body and ability than that kid. She’s from a small little town (Freeland, Mich.), and her commitment and passion to be great and being in the gym all the time is off the charts.
“I think at MSU, you are a Spartan, you are some kind of a warrior. She just represents everything you want in a program. She took a team that had no experience and a ton of injuries and just put the team on her back. To watch her take her experiences and as good as she was, care about the guy to her right and her left, I think that says a lot about her and her character.”
It will be tough for Merchant to fill those shoes, but she has to be pleased with 5-foot-5 freshman point guard Taryn McCutcheon, who appears to be the heir to Jankoska’s role as the heart of the team.
“Now we are more hungry for next year,” McCutcheon said. “We’re not satisfied with where we got to, and we’re going to work really hard in the offseason knowing we’re young and not having the experience as other teams.”
Michigan State was faced with a defensive-minded Sun Devils team that would keep it 13 points below its scoring average. Playing in the Pacific-12 Conference, ASU was no stranger to shutting down a star shooter.
“We’ve played against Kelsey Plum,” ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne said, “someone we’ve drawn strong comparisons for sure, and Jordin Canada, Sydney Wiese and on and on. This was a fun challenge for (ASU guards) Sabrina (Haines) and Robbie (Ryan). We wanted to make her work for every touch. If you can hold her for one half, that’s probably good.”
Current WNBA Draft projections rate Jankoska as a late first round choice, just below Big Ten rivals Kelsey Mitchell of Ohio State and Nia Coffey of Northwestern. If she remains poised with the intangibles Coach Merchant suggested after Friday’s game, she could be on the brink of a long pro career.
