How an ISU women's basketball star used her NIL money for special gift for friend with Down syndrome
It’s about 10 minutes before the start of the Iowa State women’s basketball team’s game at Texas Tech on Jan. 17, and Isaac Quinn still has to figure out which T-shirt he wants to wear as he watches from home.
Quinn, a 17-year-old with Down syndrome, is sitting in the living room of his aunt Sherrie Colbert’s Des Moines house, already focused on the television as she comes out of the dining room.
“You want to wear your Iowa State one or that one?” Colbert asks Quinn, referring to the shirt he already has on.
Quinn, wearing a plain black shirt, chooses the cardinal Iowa State football shirt Colbert is holding. It’s an easy choice. Quinn has supported the Cyclones women’s basketball team ever since his close friend, Arianna Jackson, began playing for the Cyclones this season. He attends as many home games as possible and watches as many road games as he can so he can cheer her on.
"We track what she's doing, how she's playing," Colbert says.
Their special friendship formed when Jackson met Quinn in Des Moines Roosevelt High School's unified physical education class, which pairs people with and without intellectual disabilities. Their friendship continued after she moved to Ames. She's made sure they keep in touch, even using her own money to buy Iowa State women's basketball season tickets for Quinn and his aunt and uncle.
"Our friendship has a deeper meaning," said Jackson, who has been a key contributor in the Cyclones' strong start. It started with their shared love of basketball, "because it's special to both of us," but now "it goes beyond basketball."
Arianna Jackson helps answer an important prayer
When Quinn was about 8 years old, Colbert said a prayer. Colbert and her husband, Harry, who had taken in and eventually adopted Quinn, tried to get him to socialize with other kids. They got him involved with Miracle League and Child Serve and enrolled him in some of their camps.
But no matter what they tried, Quinn didn’t seem to socialize with anyone. Colbert prayed that someone would come along. Someone who didn't judge him. Someone who cared about him.
“Somebody who would really be his friend and accept him for who he was,” she said.
Her prayer was eventually answered. It happened when Jackson, then a sophomore, and Quinn met in the physical education class. Jackson, a multisport star who became one of the top high school basketball players in the state, was drawn to Quinn when she walked into the gym and saw him shooting hoops. She figured basketball was something they could bond over.
“Just knowing that I could connect with him through that kind of made it an easy way to get in,” Jackson said.
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It worked. Quinn was typically shy around strangers but got comfortable with Jackson, who would also walk him to his next classroom afterward. The two walked around the gym and chatted during warmups. When they finished, Quinn hoisted up shots at the hoop. Jackson chased down rebounds and offered him helpful hints. They seemed to grow closer every day. They joked with each other, shared granola bars and played other games together. It quickly became apparent they were more than just partners in the class. They were friends.
Their friendship carried on even after the semester ended. Jackson stopped by Quinn’s classes to visit him and made sure she didn't go more than a day without seeing him. Quinn's teachers, who saw how close the two had become, kept her in the loop on how he was doing and sent her pictures. Jackson volunteered with the school's unified basketball and track programs and continued working with Quinn.
She showed up for a Best Buddies program in which Quinn was participating during the summer and joined in yard games with him. They exchanged Valentine’s Day gifts.
Kelly Cocks, a special-education teacher and unified sports program and Special Olympics coach at Roosevelt, said the relationship between Jackson and Quinn became far more close than any partnership she's seen over the years.
"It should be the norm, but it's not," Cocks said. "She definitely goes out of her way."
Basketball was their bond. Quinn's team would play games at halftime of Roosevelt’s varsity girls basketball contests while Jackson and her teammates were back in the locker room. No matter how big the game was, Jackson always made sure to quickly come out to see how Quinn was playing. That's when Roosevelt principal Steve Schappaugh realized their bond was more than just a typical mentorship. It was a special friendship.
“No matter what was happening with her, she was always looking for Isaac and trying to make sure that he knew that she was paying attention,” he said.
The friendship was precisely what Colbert was hoping for with her nephew. She was floored when she noticed Jackson making heart signs at her nephew at a girls basketball game one night. Quinn, to her surprise, would signal back, right in the middle of the game.
Jackson made it a goal to help Quinn score a basket when his team was playing during the girls state basketball tournament during her senior year. They worked on shooting and she gave him tips. She wanted him to have the same feeling she had after taking the Roughriders to the venue for the state tournament. When he accomplished the feat, they celebrated in the stands together.
"They were eating snacks and things and I saw him lay his head on her shoulder and she let him," Colbert said. "She didn't move. He just laid his head on her shoulder and I said, 'Those two are going to be friends forever.'"
'I know how much he loved basketball'
One of Quinn's most prized possessions is a book Jackson made for a project during her senior year at Roosevelt. The book is full of pictures of the two friends and ends with an essay written by Jackson about the unexpected friendship she has with Quinn and how important their friendship is. She also explains how difficult it would be not seeing him as often after she moved to Iowa State. She added that she planned to make trips back to Des Moines to visit him and keep him a part of her life.
Jackson has lived up to that promise. She still checks in on Quinn and gets messages from his teachers and his aunt and uncle. Whenever she comes back to town, she stops by Colbert's house to see him. For Christmas, she got him an Iowa State shirt. Quinn, who was an Iowa fan at first, gave away all of his Hawkeyes gear and now wears only Iowa State apparel.
More: A look back at Iowa State women's basketball's wins over top-10 teams in the last decade
Because of Quinn's passion for basketball and his strong support for her, Jackson decided to do something special for Quinn. She used $600 of her name, image and likeness (NIL) earnings from working basketball camps to buy season tickets for Quinn and his aunt and uncle.
"I know how much he loved basketball, and I was like, 'It would be so cool to have him at the games,'" Jackson said.
Quinn can't get enough Iowa State basketball. Colbert got an ESPN+ subscription so they can watch all of Iowa State's road games. They make it to Hilton Coliseum for as many games as possible. The highlight isn't even the game, though. It's afterward, when Jackson goes up into the stands to visit Quinn and snap some selfies together. After one game, fellow freshman Audi Crooks stopped by to meet him.
The friendship Jackson has forged with Quinn is no surprise to Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly. The longtime Cyclones coach recalled how Roosevelt fans continually stopped him when he swung by a game when she was in high school. All of them went out of their way to rave about Jackson. They didn't even mention her skills on the court.
"She's one of the best people from one of the best families I've ever been around," Fennelly said.
It's been rewarding for all of them. Colbert said she has seen positive changes in Quinn. He's more confident in himself, has a sense of belonging and feels more accepted for who he is. She thanks Jackson for that. But Quinn has had an impact on Jackson, too. She says she is inspired by him and his positive outlook on life.
Colbert didn't even know until recently that Jackson used her own money for the season tickets. She's happy that her prayer was answered. She keeps the book Jackson gave Quinn in the family's living room and smiles as she flips through it.
"He's got a friend for life with her," Colbert said.
Tommy Birch, the Register's sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He's the 2018, 2020 and 2023 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: How an Iowa State women's basketball player used NIL for special gift
