BC guard storms into NBA with Thunder
Al Skinner recruited him.
Steve Donahue wanted to keep him.
Scott Brooks has him now.
The Oklahoma City Thunder last night selected Boston College junior point guard Reggie Jackson with the 24th pick in the first round of the NBA draft. Jackson elected to bypass his senior year at The Heights and transform his Atlantic Coast Conference experience into a professional career.
“Well obviously I’m ecstatic, I’ve been drafted in the first round by a great organization and I feel truly blessed,” Jackson said. “I’m pretty excited about going to a team that can win a championship for many years.
“I loved BC, I loved my experience there but I felt that this was the best time to pursue my NBA dream.”
Jackson is going to a young playoff team that is poised to contend for the NBA title. The Thunder’s commander on the floor is guard Russell Westbrook, a 6-foot-3, third-year pro out of UCLA who averaged 21.9 points per game last season. Jackson has a good idea on what he has to finesse and incorporate into his game to complement Westbrook before he reports to training camp.
“I have watched him and he is somebody I can help on the attack and take some pressure off him,” Jackson said. “I have to work hard on my shot and I need to improve my defensive approach. I’m focused on helping out on defense and fine-tuning my shot into their offense.
“I have to increase my court vision and get people the ball in positions where they can be successful.”
Jackson was the Colorado High School Player of the Year at Palmer High where he averaged 29.6 points per game. He appeared in 34 games as a freshman at BC playing behind Tyrese Rice.
The 6-foot-3 guard started 20-of-31 games as a sophomore during Skinner’s last season on the Eagles bench.
“I felt Reggie definitely had the capability to do that and he was driven to try and be the best player he can be,” said Skinner, who built a 247-165 record in 13 seasons at BC.
“I honestly think his best basketball is in front of him and he is only going to continue to get better. Offensively he just has to be a little more consistent. He can shoot the ball, shoot the floater, finish in the lane and just be more consistent with his game and he’s going to do that.”
Donahue replaced Skinner at the start of the 2010-11 season and built his program around Jackson, who started 32-of-34 games, played 1,161 minutes (34.1 avg.) and scored 618 points (18.2) with 146 rebounds, 152 assists and 36 steals. He converted 219-of-435 field goals including 71-of-169 from behind the arc.
“I think the thing that makes Reggie fairly unique in the sense for an NBA player is that with his size and his athleticism, he still plays with a great deal of poise, IQ and vision,” said Donahue.
“He attacks the rim but he still understands the game so well. He has that nice combination of cerebral player, yet honestly, has the athleticism to play in that league.”
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/other_nba/view.bg?articleid=1347663
