The Beginning
Joe Jackson was born in Memphis, in a situation that is still far too common in today’s world. He was born in a bad part of the city, with parents who barely had enough money to make ends meet.
Growing up in a rough neighborhood, Jackson was far from a model student, and he even admitted to skipping classes for a week at a time on some occasions, but that changed when he moved in with his grandmother in the eighth grade.
From that time, Jackson not only became a better student, but a better ball player, finishing his high school career as a 5-star recruit, according to Rivals. In fact, the 2010 Rivals150 had him as the 18th best player and a top-5 point guard; The ESPN 100 had him ranked 21st.
With the influence of his grandmother serving as a significant factor, he decided to stay close to home when heading off to college.
Joe Jackson makes it official. Picks Memphis Tigers. 2nd top 10 recruit for Pastner for next year.
— Joshua Holmes (@bayou) September 12, 2009
Memphis Tigers land top PG recruit, Joe Jackson http://bit.ly/mGqd3
— Umair Khan (@ukhan_93) September 11, 2009
In college, Jackson was an instant contributor. He averaged just under 10 points per game as a freshman, which ballooned to 16.5 points per game in postseason play. Jackson finished the season second on the team in both points and assists, but his career was just getting started.
Before his sophomore year, Jackson played at the 2011 U-19 World Championships in Latvia, and he showed out pretty well against some of the top young players in the world.
On multiple occasions, Jackson led the USA in either points, assists or rebounds, and despite a disappointing team tournament finish, he managed to post 11.6 points, 4.1 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game, despite playing fewer than 24 minutes per outing.
The time spent on the national team really seemed to benefit Jackson, as his play in the United States really took off.
Over his next two years, Jackson saw his points, assists, steals and blocks per game increase, along with his three-point percentage, which would peak at nearly 45 percent in the 2012-13 season. However, both seasons ended with a loss in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament; in his sophomore year the team lost to Saint Louis and in his junior year they lost to Michigan State.
However, as far as regular season success was concerned, the Tigers definitely hit their goals. They had posted a ridiculous conference record of 19-3 over Jackson’s sophomore and junior seasons, including a perfect 16-0 record his junior year. However, without any tournament success, there was still work to be done for Jackson.
In his last year, there would be no storybook ending, at least at the college level, although that isn’t to say his team didn’t improve in some areas.
One of the weaknesses of Jackson’s teams was that they tended to drop a couple of early games in nonconference play. Coming into his senior season, they had averaged a start of 7-4 to each season, and they even lost two of their first four games in his junior season.
As a senior, he would rewrite that script.
Next: Senior Year