JaColby Pemberton: As tough as they come

Season two of “Tough as Nails,” a competition series that tests the strength, endurance and mental toughness of everyday people, is coming soon to a TV near you.

Now, JaColby Pemberton is not a farmer or an ironworker so he probably will not be applying to be on any future seasons.

However, if there were a spinoff sports version that featured college basketball players, Pemberton (better known as “JP”) would be a strong candidate to win that competition.

Why? Simple. He is as tough as they come. And not that kind of tough like pushing guys around or pounding your chest after scoring an AND-1.

We are talking tough as in he hates to lose. Selfless. Never intimidated. Brings that edge. Plays through pain. A player that will do whatever the team needs him to do.

Louisiana Tech head coach Eric Konkol spotted a lot of these traits when he first saw Pemberton in action while out recruiting in the summer of 2015.

“Even though we were looking at him as a wing player, the thing that stuck out to me was how physical he was at his size,” Konkol remembered when evaluating the skinny 6-foot-5 player who was suiting up for ProSkills AAU.

“At the end of the summer, the big guys on his team were injured and not playing in a particular tournament and he had to play an undersized role. He competed like crazy. He knew what it took to win.”

Pemberton, who had helped Lancaster High School to a 5A state title as a junior, inked a National Letter of Intent to play for the Bulldogs that fall.

He was on the verge of being a two-time state champ for the nationally renowned program just outside of Dallas. Averaging a double-double through the first four rounds, the Tigers were set to take on West Mesquite in the semis.

A tough break then happened to the tough JP.

“It was around halftime and we were just getting on a roll,” Pemberton recalled. “We were on a fast break and one of my teammates swung me the ball on the right side. I took off for a two-hand dunk. I had done that dunk so many times. But, after I hung on the rim and came down, I just collapsed.”

His left knee gave out.

“It did not feel right” because he had torn his ACL. At the time, he did not know that so he came back in and played a few minutes before exiting permanently to get it wrapped with ice.

The team advanced to the finals to face Edinburg Vela. And he played again. “I would try to cheat to get back on defense. I could not move the way I wanted to on offense, but on defense, I was going to hold my ground.” STATE CHAMPS AGAIN!

The high of repeating as champions was met with the low of getting the official diagnosis a week later from doc.

“I did not want to accept it,” said Pemberton. “After that, I called coach Konkol. I was scared he would maybe take my scholarship or did not want me, but he kept me calm and we started talking about all of the different options, not rushing it.”

“Playing on a torn ACL says a lot about him,” added Konkol. “He had the procedure done and went straight into the rehab. Being a freshman in college is tough, but him knowing he was going to sit out and redshirt, he was able to move past that and focus on his knee.”

Instead of trying to rush through the recovery, Pemberton sat out his first season at Tech. He used that time to get even tougher, physically and mentally.

“I was able to learn from Erik McCree, Jacobi Boykins, all the older guys, seeing how they play,” said JP. “Just being able to watch everything going on, how they handled themselves. It made things easier now. That is what I try to tell our freshmen now. It is a process.”

Pemberton recently played his 100th career game as a Bulldog. And the now redshirt senior has showed his toughness in every single one. A recent example would be late in the game at Western Kentucky.

LA Tech had a rare chance to avenge the two-point loss the night before to the Hilltoppers. Up one with less than 30 seconds remaining, the limited crowd inside E.A. Diddle Arena were making their presence felt.

Isaiah Crawford did a dribble handoff to Amorie Archibald who drove hard into the paint and sent up a running floater with his right hand. The ball bounced off the front of the rim right next to the WKU’s preseason All-American Charles Bassey.

Bassey did not get the rebound.

Pemberton came charging from the right corner and outdueled the 6-foot-11 center, getting the tip-in to fall to put the Bulldogs up three. They would go on to win, 63-58, their first victory in that building since 2000.

“I’m not the most skillful or talented player, but I feel like you are not going to outplay me,” said Pemberton. “I don’t care how big, how tall you are. I don’t care what your ranking is. I feel like I have more heart than you.”

Konkol agrees.

“He is a guy that will make a simple play, a hard-nosed play that results in something big for us. He is a hard person to take off the floor. He is going to do whatever he can to get on the floor and stay on the floor.”

His junior year comes to mind when he developed a stress fracture in his foot, or as JP put it, “an annoying, aggravating” injury.

The only way it was going to heal was rest. And he rested it for the back-half of non-conference before returning to help his team make a run at a conference title.

“I knew we had a chance last year and I did not want to miss that part,” said Pemberton. “I was going to do whatever it took to help my team.”

He ended up playing in 15 of the 18 league games, going 30+ minutes in five of those. He even put up a double-double in his last game at WKU, tallying 15 points and 10 boards.

Where did his toughness come from?

“Always being the youngest sibling,” said Pemberton. “When I was in elementary school, they were in high school. If I wanted to get on the court, I could not cry or complain about them fouling or blocking my shot. We were always physical with each other.

“It was tough love that made me tough. And not taking anything for granted. Being thankful to play the game.”