Lincoln basketball stand out JT Rock displays character off the court

JT Rock, a stand out basketball player for Sioux Falls Lincoln, was in attendance on Tuesday night at Jefferson high school for a volleyball match between the Patriots and Cavaliers. It wasn't what he did during the game, but afterwards, that might give everyone a taste as to who exactly JT Rock is as a person.

The match was a good one. Jefferson won the fifth set 15-12 to score a 3-2 victory over Lincoln. While most of the Patriots fans, and students, left for their vehicles, one individual wearing red stayed behind to help clean up after the Lincoln high school student section. That person was JT Rock.

"I have a couple of reasons to root against this kid. For one, he beat us on a buzzer beater in the state basketball tournament last year. However, it’s hard to root against a Junior in High School," said Sioux Falls Jefferson fan Jeff Riley. "What’s the point of this story. He picked up every single kids trash in the whole Lincoln High School section. The bleachers were clean. Kuddos to this kid that I’ll have to root against for 4 quarters in the upcoming basketball year, but other then that, he’s gained a ton of respect for me. His parents, family, and school should be proud."

JT Rock sprung onto the basketball season as a sophomore last season. At 7-foot tall, he's already fielding offers from multiple DI programs - including Nebraska, SDSU, Wisconsin, Purdue, Iowa State, and Creighton.

This past spring, Rock helped lead the Patriots to the consolation championship game on a last second buzzer beater against Jefferson.

Tuesday night's volleyball match wasn't a setting in which there were cameras all around. But sometimes, when the cameras are off and nobody is looking, true character reveals itself. Unbeknown to JT Rock, Jeff Riley was watching, and now all of us can have a view into who this young athlete is.