Friday, January 11, 2008

TONY JACKSON - A TALENT FOR THE GAME

Tony Jackson, a native of Brooklyn, starred for St. John's on the hardwood under the Joe Lapchick, lettering three times from 1958-59 to 1960-61.
A two-time consensus All-American, Jackson is currently listed ninth among all-time St. John's scoring leaders with 1,603 points. He is also third on the all-time rebounding list with 991 career boards. In his first season in 1958-59, Jackson helped the team to the Post season NIT title, scoring 20.0 points per game. That year he was named Most Valuable Player of both the NIT and the ECAC Holiday Festival. He set a then-school record that season with 27 rebounds in one game (that currently ranks second best).
In his second season in 1959-60, Jackson earned consensus All-America honors and led St. John's with a 21.2 ppg scoring average, surpassing the 1,000-point plateau, while averaging 12.9 rebounds per game as well.
In his senior year, Jackson was the recipient of All-America accolades and won the Haggerty Award, which is given to the best collegiate basketball player in the Metropolitan area. Jackson averaged 22.0 ppg that year.
Jackson was drafted with the first pick in the third round of the 1961 NBA Draft by the New York Knickerbockers. In 1968, he joined the ABA's New Jersey Americans, where he scored 19.4 ppg. In 1969, Jackson played for three ABA teams: the Houston Mavericks, the Minnesota Pipers and the New York Nets. He finished his ABA career with a 15.9 scoring average

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Thanks for the post brother. Tony was my uncle.. not well known outside of NBA and St. John's circles. Appreciate the write up !

Cassine Jackson