Willie Jackson (basketball)

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]

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 (now the ASUN 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 remained the only TAAC/ASUN player to be honored as the Conference Player of the Year three times (1982 through 1984) before that feat was matched in 2023 by Liberty's Darius McGhee.[2][3][5] At Jackson's graduation, he was only the fourth Division I player ever to earn three conference player of the year awards.[6] His ASUN scoring record lasted until February 22, 2023, when it was surpassed by McGhee, who had the benefit of a fifth season of eligibility due to a blanket NCAA eligibility waiver for all basketball players active in the COVID-disrupted 2020–21 season.[7]

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.[8] He played the 1984–85 season in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), for the Wisconsin Flyers and Sarasota Stingers. He averaged 8.3 points and 3.4 rebounds over 35 games.[1]