{"id":85823,"date":"2025-03-18T07:38:20","date_gmt":"2025-03-18T12:38:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/ian-jackson-describes-challenge-of-ramadan-fasting-amid-ncaa-tournament\/"},"modified":"2025-03-18T07:38:20","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T12:38:20","slug":"ian-jackson-describes-challenge-of-ramadan-fasting-amid-ncaa-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/ian-jackson-describes-challenge-of-ramadan-fasting-amid-ncaa-tournament\/","title":{"rendered":"Ian Jackson describes challenge of Ramadan fasting amid NCAA Tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NCAA Tournament is always a challenge for college athletes. However, for North Carolina Tar Heels<\/strong><\/a> guard Ian Jackson<\/a><\/strong>, this year\u2019s tournament comes with an extra challenge. He\u2019ll also be fasting for Ramadan.<\/p>\n

Ramadan, which is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, lasts a month and the dates of it change annually. For those who observe it, they must fast while the sun is up, making it a challenge to stay nourished and prepared as an athlete. Certainly, that\u2019s been the case for Jackson but it comes with its rewards. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, I would say it\u2019s been rough,\u201d Ian Jackson said<\/a>. \u201cHow should I say it? This fast is going to be looked at as a burden. This is something that we do to get closer to God. So, for me, it\u2019s been good\u2026 This is my third year fasting.\u201d<\/p>\n

For those fasting, food can\u2019t be consumed during the day. Meals can be taken, with some restrictions, before dawn. However, not even water can be had during the day, making being an athlete playing games in the middle of a fast very difficult. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe fast during the day between sunrise and sundown\u2026 You can\u2019t have pork,\u201d Jackson explained. \u201cWe don\u2019t eat pork. So, pork is off the table, but we just eat food\u2026 Nothing. No, you can\u2019t drink. So, it\u2019s nothing during the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NCAA Tournament won\u2019t be the first time Ian Jackson has had to deal with fasting. North Carolina also played the ACC Tournament during Ramadan, which saw the Tar Heels play multiple games in the middle of the afternoon. He averaged just over two points per game coming off the bench.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the morning I prepared because I knew during the game I wasn\u2019t going to eat or drink during the game. So, when I prepared, I ate a good amount of food and played the game. It wasn\u2019t too bad. [Get up before dawn], absolutely,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cAnd before first prayer we get up, eat, we make sure we have like a scheduled meal where it\u2019s a lot of carbohydrates. Things that will stick to you and last throughout the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year, Ramadan began on February 28th and will run through March 29th. So, if North Carolina makes a deep enough run in the NCAA Tournament, Jackson would be able to end his fast with games left to play. Regardless, he does have some experience going back to high school in dealing with this challenge. <\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t have as many games as I have now,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cSo, it wasn\u2019t that bad. I didn\u2019t have too many games I had to play while I was fasting. So, it wasn\u2019t too bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

North Carolina will open the NCAA Tournament on Tuesday, March 18th against San Diego State<\/strong><\/a> for a First Four game. That game is scheduled to tip-off at 9:10 p.m. EST and will be played in Dayton, Ohio. <\/p>\n

The post Ian Jackson describes challenge of Ramadan fasting amid NCAA Tournament<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The NCAA Tournament is always a challenge for college athletes. However, for North Carolina Tar…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85823\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}