Donovon Jack reflects on ‘special’ days with Cardinals, Saints

Donovon Jack calls it “kind of surreal” to be entering the Berks Catholic Hall of Fame.

He and his teammates were just having fun and living in the moment when they were winning basketball championships at Central Catholic and Berks Catholic. They didn’t realize the magnitude of it all back then.

“Its been almost 10 years,” said Jack, now 28, “but it’s cool to look back and see the things (we did). It’s never too far gone (from our memories).”

Jack, a three-time All-State pick, will be inducted into the Hall during a pre-game ceremony Friday when the Saints play Twin Valley at Wolf Gymnasium.

The ceremony would’ve come sooner but Jack has been off in Europe and Australia playing professional basketball since graduating from Penn State in 2016.

He paused his pro career when COVID hit in March 2020 and is currently living and working in New Jersey.

As he and his teammates get further away from their high school days they begin to appreciate things a little more and put their accomplishments into perspective. There were a lot of accomplishments.

Jack was part of three straight district championship teams — at Central Catholic in 2010 and 2011 and at Berks Catholic in 2012. You would have to go back to the early 1970s, with Mount Penn; the mid 1950s, with Reading High; or the early 1950s, with Kutztown, to find a Berks player who earned three straight district golds.

It’s unlikely there were many as pivotal as the 6-9 Jack, easily one of the greatest players in Berks history. He graduated in 2012 after scoring 1,725 points, ranked 10th in Berks at the time. His scoring total was the highest ever by a player at a Reading school before Lonnie Walker IV eclipsed it.

He was a first-team All-State pick and the Berks Player of the Year as both a junior and senior.

His teams won 108 games over four seasons, with three division titles, a county title and nine PIAA Tournament victories. They reached four straight district finals and a state final.

“We never really truly realized how special it was,” said Jack, “but when we look back on it now and see things — it’s crazy how much we did.”

Jack was the centerpiece in one of the greatest games in Berks history, the 2011 Berks Conference championship against Reading High. The game drew 6,800 fans to the Sovereign Center, the biggest crowd ever for a Berks basketball game.

The last meeting between Central Catholic and Reading High lived up to the hype. Jack was dominant, with 24 points, 16 rebounds and seven blocked shots, but the Cards couldn’t hold an early lead and lost 58-50 — their second straight to the Red Knights in the title game.

“Even though we lost the county championship, the atmosphere was crazy,” Jack recalled. “We almost sold out the arena. I hated the way we lost, but it was just so much fun to play in front of (that crowd).”

A year later, in Berks Catholic’s debut season, Jack and the Saints won the county title, beating Schuylkill Valley. As a senior he led the Saints to a 28-3 record and averaged 17.0 points, 10.1 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots.

“I got lucky with the guys I came up with and who I got to play with,” Jack said. “I owe a lot to the guys I played with from my freshman year to my senior year.”

He went on to play four seasons at Penn State, where he was a captain his senior season. He played in 117 games, with 44 starts. He averaged 5.2 points and 2.9 points as senior, and finished No. 6 on all-time blocked shots list with 100.

He has played professional basketball in the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Slovenia and Belgium in the years since. When COVID hit in March 2020 play was shut down and he returned home. He sat out last season.

Jack says he’s not officially retired from the game. He hasn’t decided whether to resume his career or not.

“There’s days I love going home (from work) to my family, my dogs, hanging out, and there’s days when I miss playing,” he said. “I still love the game. I still play in leagues. I play up in Allentown, I play in Jersey, I played in Philly last summer. I still get the itch some days.”