Wofford senior Jackson Sivills of McCracken County will play against No. 2 seed Tennessee Thursday in Rupp Arena.
Basketball is important to the Sivills family and there is quite a family tradition that will be extended at the NCAA Tournament Thursday in Rupp Arena.
Wofford College senior Jackson Sivills, a 2020 McCracken County High School graduate, will be in the starting lineup Thursday night when No. 15 seed Wofford takes on No. 2 seed Tennessee.
He is one of four family members to play at Rupp Arena — something few if any, families can claim.
— Scott Sivills, Jackson’s father and the girls’ coach at McCracken County, played in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament in Rupp Arena when the Racers beat Eastern Kentucky in the final for their third straight tournament title. He’s also coached in the girls’ state tournament at Rupp three times.
— Will Sivills, Jackson’s older brother, played for Calloway County in the state tournament at Rupp and later played against Kentucky in a preseason exhibition game at Rupp when he was at Transylvania.
— Caroline Sivills, Jackson’s older sister, played in the state tournament at Rupp for her father and McCracken County. She’s now a sophomore volleyball player at Shorter University.
— Jackson Sivills played for McCracken in the 2018 state tourney at Rupp and had 17 points and nine rebounds, both team highs, in a loss to Oldham County.
“We are so excited,” Scott Sivills said. “We felt like there was a good chance Wofford would be in Lexington or Milwaukee but it is really a perfect script for Jackson. He had the 2020 state (high school) tournament taken away from him and his team (by COVID). He was two points shy of 2,000 points. He lost senior prom and graduation. He had three college coaches and transferred from Murray State to Wofford.
“He had a career game against Furman (20 points, four rebounds, one assist, one block, one steal) in his last game and now he gets to play in Lexington. It’s basically like a fairytale for our family.”
Jackson Sivills is McCracken County’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder with 1,998 career points and 871 rebounds. He averaged 21.4 points per game and 7.9 rebounds per game during the 2019-20 season with McCracken.
This season he has started 23 of 32 games and averaged 9.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 21.7 minutes per game. He’s hitting .433 percent from the field and has 60 3-pointers. He started all 32 games during the 2023-24 season when he averaged 9.4 points and 4.8 rebounds. In a game at Tennessee, he had 10 points and six rebounds. The previous year — his first at Wofford — he started 18 games, including 14 of the final 15. He played in 29 games in his two seasons at Murray with one start.
Scott Sivills thought he was going to see his son play against Kentucky in the 2022 NCAA Tournament but Saint Peters upset UK and then beat Murray.
“You could just feel the pressure on Kentucky. It just kept building,” Scott Sivillis said.
Wofford hopes Tennessee might experience the same thing. The Terriers (19-15 lost games early in the season they “should have won” according to the McCracken coach that led to their low seeding. All five Wofford scored in double figures in the conference tourney championship game win over Furman and the Terriers went 14-for-28 from 3.
“My son is playing the best basketball of his life along with his teammates,” the McCracken coach said. “They played Duke this year. They played at Tennessee last year and it was a close game until the final 10 minutes. This is a veteran team that starts four seniors who have played a lot together. They have four guys who shot over 120 3’ and all made 55 or more. Wofford is also one of best rebounding teams in the country offensively and defensively”
Kyler Filewich, a 6-8 center from Winnipeg, Manitoba, averages 11.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. However, his claim to fame is his free throw shooting — or free throw missing. He’s only a 31.8 percent shooter at the line and Wofford coach Dwight Perry, a former UK player, brought in former NBA great Rick Barry to work with him.
“He (Filewich) now shoots Granny free throws,” Sivills said. “Dwight flew Rick Barry in to show him how to shoot free throws Granny style. He’s been doing that since mid-January. His percentage is not awesome, but it is better.”
Sivills and his wife, Catherine, will be in Rupp Arena on Thursday along with his oldest son, Will. His daughter will be if she can reschedule a college workout. Sivills’ aunt in Frankfort could be there but his father and uncle might not be there due to health reasons but will be watching on TV.
“We are a very sports-minded family,” the McCracken coach said. “Us all going to Lexington to watch Jackson play is awesome. Growing up, I went to the boys’ state tournament since I was in middle school. My sons came to the state tournament often. When we lived in Murray we would pack the family up and go to the OVC Tournament every year.
“But packing up to go watch a NCAA Tournament game in Rupp Arena with your son playing is just unbelievable. We are so, so excited.”
