By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Jaxon Etter doesn’t waste time with New Year’s resolutions. The 6-foot-4 Georgia men’s basketball junior doesn’t wait for a new week, month or year to make the changes or improvements in his life he wants to make, he does it right away. In his words, he tends to “adjust on the fly.”
Etter, a lifelong Bulldog fan from Woodstock, Ga., started four of the Bulldogs’ first 14 games and has been a valuable contributor on and off the court since he walked onto the team as a freshman. Etter has been with coach Tom Crean the past three years, which means he’s had more experience with Crean’s system than anyone else on the roster. And that means Etter sometimes winds up instructing his new teammates on what to do.
During a recent Quick Chat, Etter, a Real Estate major, talked about maybe getting into coaching one day, how much he’s improved since joining the team as a walk-on, the best thing that happened to him in 2021, and much more. Here’s some of what he had to say:
Frierson: Did you make any New Year’s resolutions? Do you do that or do you adjust on the fly all year long?
Etter: I adjust on the fly. I usually take my life and fly by the seat of my pants — that’s usually my motto, you know, and that’s kind of how I’ve always rolled. I’m like a stress-free, go-with-the-flow kind of guy. That’s who I am and that’s who I’ll always be.
Frierson: What was the best thing that happened to you or entered your life in 2021?
Etter: I started dating my girlfriend, who I see a long-term relationship with, so that was very important to me. I also got a better relationship with my parents. My freshman year, I would go home a lot; sophomore year, I kind of didn’t. This year, I’ve been able to keep that balance a little bit better and make sure I talk to them on the phone and make sure I get home as often as I can.
Frierson: It’s a tricky thing when you go to college close or semi-close to home because you want to be off at college experiencing everything but there’s also the pull of home and family.
Etter: That’s why I loved the idea of coming to Georgia. First of all, I grew up a Georgia fan, I grew up a Bulldog, so coming here always was a dream. But it also, it’s an hour-and-a-half or an hour and 45 minutes from home, which is not too close and close enough to where I can make a day trip home if I want to. I get to see them more often than twice a year like some other college kids.
Frierson: When you look back at the player you were when you first got here, what’s the biggest change from then to now?
Etter: Freshman year, I was this wide-eyed kid soaking in all of the information I could possibly get, and just soaking it in like a sponge. Now, as kind of a leader and someone who’s been around Coach Crean the longest on the team, I’m squeezing that sponge a little bit into the freshmen and transfers who don’t know Coach Crean and don’t know his philosophies like I do.
Frierson: Does that make you think about getting into coaching one day?
Etter: Absolutely. That’s always been a tough call for me, and I haven’t made that call yet. I’ve always decided it was business or coaching, one or the other. It’s a tough call for me: I can see myself being a basketball coach because I love the game, but I also see myself going into the business world and making a lot of money. And if there’s a happy medium where I can be a basketball coach and make a lot of money, that’s probably the route I’ll go.
Frierson: If you can be a college basketball coach you will certainly make a lot of money. You can also give coaching a try and if it’s not for you then the business world, and real estate, will always be there waiting for you.
Etter: I’m not entirely sure what I want to do in business but the real-estate field interests me a lot, whether I want to do corporate, personal, I have no idea.
Frierson: Who is the funniest guy on this year’s team?
Etter: I would have to say it’s Jabri (Adbur-Rahim), for his sly comments and when he talks usually the room kind of listens. Because he’s usually got something funny to say.
Frierson: Do you have a creative side? Is there anything creative you do or wish you could do?
Etter: I have no musical talent and no art talent. I know sports, the outdoors, that’s about it. I always wished I could play the guitar, and when I was in third grade I took guitar lessons. And it turns out I am just not a guitar player. The guitar still sits in my room but I just do not [laughs], I can’t play it. I gave it a shot but it takes years of hard work.
Frierson: What was your favorite toy when you were a kid?
Etter: I was always out in the woods, me and my neighborhood best friend, and we were always playing in the creek in our backyard. That’s really what we did, throwing rocks, throwing mud at each other — that was our fun.
Frierson: So the mud you threw at each other was your favorite toy, or maybe the creek itself.
Etter: Without a doubt.
Frierson: With your love of the outdoors, is there a trip you really want to take? Fly-fishing in Montana? Hunting somewhere interesting out West?
Etter: You know, I just finished “Yellowstone,” so I’d love to just be a cowboy for a day. It’s been like 10 years since I rode a horse but if I could be a cowboy for a day, that would be pretty cool.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men’s Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He’s also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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