Jack Salt 2.0: Leaner, Meaner, Ready For A Breakout Season

A new version of Jack Salt has returned to Charlottesville and is champing at the bit for Virginia’s basketball season to begin. Let’s name this version “The Auckland Wall, 2.0.”

UVa’s big center returned to his native New Zealand this summer and made his country’s national team, the “Tall Blacks,” which defeated Hong Kong and China in qualifying games in basketball’s World Cup. When he arrived in New Zealand, friends and family might have been a bit surprised in his appearance.

Salt, at 7-feet, 250 pounds, had drastically changed his physique to a lean machine, all muscle, little body fat. (See related before and after photographs).

The big Kiwi accomplished this with a focus on diet and his workout regimen. He has always abided by UVa basketball’s strength and conditioning coach Mike Curtis’ plan, but took that to another level to achieve his goals.

“I cut out everything bad,” Salt said upon his recent return to Charlottesville. “I would have one bad thing a week, usually on Sunday night. You’ve got to treat yourself every now and then.”

The rest of the time, he maintained a basic diet of oats and protein in the morning, including omlettes, then chicken, broccoli, and rice the rest of the day.

“I’m not too much of a good chef,” Salt laughed. “I put it in a blender and blend it up.”

While his body fat dropped, his main goal was tuned toward how he felt and moved on the court.

“I feel less lethargic, more energetic, and bigger on the floor, which was the reason I did this,” said Salt, who also benefited from a dedicated workout program.

All this dedication helped him make his national team. New Zealand’s national colors are black and white. You may have heard of its world famous rugby team, the All Blacks. The basketball team is the Tall Blacks. The soccer team is the All Whites, the hockey team Black Sticks, the cricket team White Caps.

“It was a huge honor representing my country,” Salt said. “I was happy they selected me for trials and that they picked me for the team. Playing in games that helped us qualify for the World Cup and get two wins was awesome. I’m excited for the next opportunity to play for my country.”

That could be quite some time between games. New Zealand, which is tied for first in its “pool,” has six more games, including crossover competition against a pool of Jordan and Syria. Those games will be played in September, November and February, none of which Salt can play in because he’ll be involved in his senior season at UVa.

Should New Zealand advance through that round, it will make the World Cup, which will be held in China in 2019.

His ultimate goal is to compete with the Tall Blacks in the Olympics in 2020 in Tokyo, 2024 in Paris, and 2028 in Los Angeles.

During the most recent round of games, Salt scored nine points and pulled down seven rebounds against Hong Kong. His numbers weren’t as good against China because he got into foul trouble early and didn’t play as much.

“The biggest thing was that we got the win,” Salt said. “China is pretty solid internationally. New Zealand is a country with four million people. China’s a billion, so it’s always good to beat them.”

This wasn’t Salt’s first experience with the Tall Blacks. He made the team as a 17 year old, so it was a learning experience that helped him prepare for the latest go round.

The new head coach was the assistant coach in Salt’s first go-round with his national team, but a lot of teammates were the same, including one of his national heroes, 36-year-old Mika Vukona, a 6-foot-6 center who is tough as nails.

“He’s the strongest, toughest competitor you’ll ever meet,” Salt said. “He was captain of the team when I was 17 and he’s still the captain now. I always look for the opportunity to play with him. He’s always there and welcoming and ready to help out.”

The head coach, Paul Henare, noticed changes not only in Salt’s physical frame but in his game, particularly Salt’s rebounding, defense, and physicality.

“He was happy with the improvement he saw,” Salt said of his coach. “It has been awhile, five years.”

Since the end of Virginia’s season, Salt has focused on improving overall, but particularly on his offensive game. He has a career scoring average of 3.1 points per game, with a career field goal accuracy of .587, which peaked last season at .650.

“I wanted to work on my offensive game because I feel like I’ve produced well as a defender (22 blocked shots last season, same as the year before, plus altering many opponents shots),” Salt said. “There’s room to grow on my offensive game.”

He has worked hard in the offseason on developing more touch to his shots, including adding a baby hook to his repertoire.

“A lot of work on that with coaches,” Salt said. “Getting that feel going, fingers following through. A lot of reps.”

Salt largely ignores his popularity. He stays away from social media, blocks out the praise and the negativity.

“I just focus on the inside of the locker room,” he said, but does admit that he hears the crowd when Virginia makes a defensive stand.

Back home in Auckland, he said he’s “under the radar,” but acknowledged that homefolk paid more attention to UVa this season because of the great season and due to the shocking early exit from the NCAA Tournament.

Just as teammates Kyle Guy and Ty Jerome have said publicly, Salt is using that first round upset loss to 16th-seeded UMBC, as fuel to prepare for the upcoming season.

“For sure,” Salt said. “We broke history for losing to a 16th seed, and that’s not a good record to have. It might motivate us individually to get more work in, but we’re going to work regardless. [UMBC] played great and deserved the game, but I can’t wait to play the first game of the new season.”

As a senior captain, Salt said he hopes to follow in the footsteps of departed Isaiah Wilkins and Devon Hall, whom he called amazing leaders. He learned through Wilkins that leadership doesn’t always come through words but through actions.

“Sometimes that’s best because you can talk, talk, talk, but you’ve got to get to it, and Isaiah was really good at doing that,” Salt said.

While the monstrous Salt may seem reserved, unflinching, he swelled up with pride as a member of the All Blacks when his national anthem rang out in the arena back home.

“Usually when I stand for the national anthem, it’s the American anthem,” Salt said. “It was the New Zealand anthem, and I was just looking at the flag and saying, ‘Wow, this is awesome.’

“It made me appreciate the opportunity I had to both play in America and to come back to New Zealand,” Salt said. “I was very prideful, just honored that I was selected for the team to represent my country, a country I was raised in, that I love a lot. It meant a lot that I got to wear the black jersey. I was just so humbled.”

Meanwhile, Salt does what most college kids do when he’s not spending his time doing his two most favorite things: playing basketball and lifting weights. Otherwise, he spends time with his teammates, especially if there’s a swimming pool involved.

He’s gotten into reading (Phil Knight’s “Shoe Dog”). He took advantage of his trip home to hang out with his family and friends. His sister is a sophomore full scholarship rower at Oklahoma. His mom runs early childhood centers in New Zealand and his dad is a personal chef who works in London and Spain.

And, no, the specialty chef genes did not trickle down to young Jack.

“When I was younger, I used to just watch him cook and I was so hungry, I was just waiting to eat it, and wasn’t listening to what he was saying,” Salt said. “If I’m cooking, i just keep it very basic, fast, and efficient. That’s what blenders are for.”