Jack Scott was born into Princeton basketball. His father, Joe Scott, played for the Tigers from 1983 to 1987, then returned as an assistant coach from 1992 to 2000 before becoming Princeton’s head coach from 2004 to 2007. Between and after those Princeton stints, Joe was head coach at Air Force (2000–04 and again currently) and Denver (2007–16). His mother, Leah Spraragen, was a point guard at Princeton, graduating in 1992. Basketball wasn’t just the family business — it was the family language.
Jack grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado, but his basketball education happened on the move, shaped by his father’s coaching career across multiple programs. When it came time for prep school, he headed east to the Hun School of Princeton in New Jersey — just down the road from the campus where his parents had played. The proximity was intentional. He knew the area, knew the food spots, knew the people his father had coached with and against. But the basketball at Hun was its own proving ground.
Under coach Jonathan Stone, who was in his 20th-plus season at Hun, Scott developed into one of the top prep players in Mercer County. He was a 6-foot-4 point guard with a facilitator’s mentality — a passer first, a shooter second, a rebounder who played bigger than his size. He averaged a double-double in both his junior and senior seasons, leading the team in points, rebounds, assists, and steals as a senior. He averaged 18 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals in his final year. Hun finished as the runner-up in Prep A behind Blair Academy.
The accolades piled up: 2021-22 Trentonian Prep Player of the Year, two-time First Team All-MAPL (Mid-Atlantic Prep League), Hoopgroup Showcase League First Team, First Team Spring Jam Fest, and New Jersey Prep A First Team in both his junior and senior campaigns. He graduated Cum Laude with a 4.0 GPA. Stone’s assessment was straightforward: great passer, great defender, great rebounder for a guard, does many different things on the floor.
Scott committed to Princeton — following his parents into the orange and black. It was the obvious choice and the right one.