Willie Jackson (basketball)

Willie Jackson
College Centenary
Conference TAAC
Sport Basketball
Position Forward
Jersey # 33
Nickname "The Legend"[1]
Height 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Nationality American
High school Sibley
Sibley, Louisiana
Awards
  • 3× TAAC Player of the Year
Honors
  • TAAC's all-time leading scorer
  • Louisiana Basketball Hall of Fame

Willie Jackson is an American former college basketball stand-out and current high school head coach.[2][3]

Playing career

High school

Jackson grew up in Webster Parish, Louisiana and attended Sibley High School from 1976–77 to 1979–80.[3] During his junior and senior years, Sibley won 100 straight games, including a perfect 58–0 season in 1979–80 which ended with a state championship.[3]

College

Willie Jackson decided to stay in Louisiana and signed to play at Centenary College of Louisiana, an NCAA Division I institution. He played basketball all four seasons and graduated as the most prolific scorer in both school and Trans America Athletic Conference (modern day Atlantic Sun Conference) history.[2] Between 1980–81 and 1983–84, Jackson played in 114 games and recorded 2,535 points, 1,013 rebounds, 112 blocks and 205 steals.[4] Through the 2009–10 season, these rank him first, second, first and third in Centenary history, respectively.[4] Only Hall of Famer Robert Parish grabbed more rebounds (1,820).[4] He scored 30 or more points in a game 21 times and had a career high of 41.[4] When Jackson's career ended, he was one of only seven players in Division I history to have scored 2,500+ points and grabbed 1,000+ rebounds.[2] He is still the only TAAC/Atlantic Sun Conference player to be honored as the Conference Player of the Year three times (1982 through 1984),[2][3] and upon graduation was only the fourth Division I player ever to earn three conference player of the year awards.[1]

Jackson was drafted in the fourth round (74th overall) in the 1984 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets, although he never played in the league.[5]

Coaching career

Jackson was the head boys' basketball coach Loyola College Prep in Shreveport, Louisiana.[3] His previous coaching experience also included a stint as an assistant coach for Centenary.[1]

Through the 2008–09 boys' basketball season, Jackson has become the winningest coach in school history, leading the Flyers to three playoff berths, a school-record 27 wins in 2007–08, three 20-win seasons (the most of any coach in school history), and his 118 wins was 40 more than the next closest head coach at Loyola Prep.[3] He was also named the Coach of the Year on The (Shreveport) Times All-City team in 2004–05.[3] He was terminated as head coach at the end of the 2012 season.[6]

As of 2012–13 Willie Jackson is the head coach at Central High School in Grand Cane, Louisiana.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Willie Jackson: Basketball (1980–84)". GoCentenary.com. Centenary College of Louisiana. February 14, 2008. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Centenary Places Two on Atlantic Sun's List of 30 Shining Moments". GoCentenary.com. Centenary College of Louisiana. September 19, 2008. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Willie Jackson & Coaching Staff". Loyola College Prep. 2010. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). 1,000 Point Club. Centenary College of Louisiana. 2010. Retrieved October 31, 2010.
  5. ↑ "Houston Rockets Draft Picks". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2010. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
  6. ↑ The Shreveport Times, May 19, 2012
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