Brian Jackson

Brian Ralph Jackson (born February 1, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. After playing high school basketball in Palos Verdes Estates, California, Jackson played college basketball at Utah State, and was an all-conference selection in three of his four seasons there. He was selected in the second round (26th overall) of the 1981 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers but was waived before the start of the NBA season, and he moved to Europe where he played in Italy and most notably in Spain, where he was selected as an All-Star 4 times. While playing for Real Madrid he won 2 league titles, one Copa del Rey and one FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup, of which he also was the finals top scorer. He retired in 1995 after a 14-year career; in 2012 he was inducted in the Utah State Athletics Hall of Fame. High school career Jackson was born in Torrance, California and played basketball at Palos Verdes in Palos Verdes Estates, California under coach John Mihaljevich. He played the center position in high school, and in his senior year he was named a preseason all-American; in his last season at Palos Verdes he averaged 21 points and 15 rebounds per game. College career Jackson signed to play for Utah State in April 1977, and chose to wear jersey number 55. In his freshman year Jackson played 28 games, starting 11, and averaged 8.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 22.7 minutes per game. On January 7, 1978 Jackson scored a career-high 24 points against BYU in a 84–85 loss. Jackson's sophomore year saw him being promoted to the starting lineup, and his 37.1 minutes per game were the best mark in the program history surpassing Ed Gregg's 37.0 in 1975–76. He averaged 15.7 points and 8.3 rebounds (second on his team in scoring and first in rebounding), and he was a 2nd team all-PCAA selection. On December 2, 1978 he recorded a new career-high 28 points against Western Michigan. Utah State qualified for the 1979 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament, facing USC in the first round: in a 86–67 loss Jackson recorded 17 points and 13 rebounds in 35 minutes of play. In his junior year Jackson improved his scoring average to 20 points per game, and again he was the top rebounder of his team with 7 per game. At the end of the regular season he was a 2nd team all-PCAA selection for the second year in a row, and again he appeared in the NCAA Tournament.