Jhivvan Jackson
| No. 2 – UTSA Roadrunners | |
|---|---|
| Position | Point guard / Shooting guard |
| League | Conference USA |
| Personal information | |
| Born | August 27, 1998 Bayamón, Puerto Rico |
| Nationality | Puerto Rican / Panamanian |
| Listed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Listed weight | 170 lb (77 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Trinity (Euless, Texas) |
| College | UTSA (2017–present) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Jhivvan Jameel Jackson Meléndez (born August 27, 1998) is a Puerto Rican college basketball player for the UTSA Roadrunners of the Conference USA.
Early life and high school
Jackson began playing basketball at the age of five.[1] He moved from his hometown of Bayamón, Puerto Rico to Dallas, Texas in seventh grade.[2] He played four years of varsity basketball at Trinity High School in Euless, Texas. As a freshman, Jackson was teammates with top recruit and future National Basketball Association (NBA) player Myles Turner. In his senior season, he averaged 22 points, five rebounds, five assists and 2.8 steals per game.[3] He scored 52 points in a 92-91 overtime win over Denton Guyer High School in the playoffs after missing the two games previous with an injured ankle.[4] Jackson was lightly recruited, his only NCAA Division I offers coming from New Mexico and UTSA, and was not rated by any major recruiting services. On October 16, 2016, he committed to play for UTSA, who discovered him at an all-star game in New York City.[3]
College career
As a freshman, Jackson was named Conference USA freshman of the year and Second Team All-Conference USA.[5] He averaged 18.4 points per game to lead the team.[6] Jackson tore his ACL at the end of his freshman season, cutting the year six games short. He missed the first three games of his sophomore season while recovering from the injury.[2] He scored a career-high 46 points and hit a career-high eight three-pointers in a 96-88 overtime loss to Western Kentucky on January 31, 2019.[7] As a sophomore, Jackson led Conference USA in scoring with 22.9 points per game on 38.6 percent shooting from the field, combining with Keaton Wallace to form the highest scoring backcourt in Division I. Jackson was named to the First Team All-Conference USA.[2] On December 21, Jackson scored a season-high 41 points in a 89-70 win over Illinois State.[8] He was subsequently named National Player of the Week by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), becoming the first Conference USA player to win the award since its creation in 2009–10.[9]
National team career
Jackson was named to the Puerto Rico U18 team in the 2016 FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship.[10] He averaged 12.4 points and 3.6 rebounds per game in five games.[11]
Career statistics
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
College
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–18 | UTSA | 29 | 9 | 25.7 | .431 | .368 | .768 | 3.2 | 1.8 | 1.0 | .1 | 18.4 |
| 2018–19 | UTSA | 29 | 24 | 30.8 | .386 | .351 | .846 | 4.1 | 2.4 | 1.2 | .1 | 22.9 |
| Career | 58 | 33 | 28.3 | .404 | .358 | .806 | 3.7 | 2.1 | 1.1 | .1 | 20.6 | |
Personal life
Jackson's father, LeRoy Jackson, played college basketball in the early 1990s for Oregon State before playing for Panama and professionally in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.[1] His grandfather, Flor Meléndez, played for Puerto Rico at the 1968 Olympics and professionally in Puerto Rico. Meléndez coached the national teams of Puerto Rico, Argentina and Panama as well as professional teams in Venezuela and Spain.[3]
Jackson's name, Jhivvan, is derived from the Hindi word, "Jeevan," meaning life.[1]
References
- ^ a b c "Player Spotlight: Jhivvan Jackson, Euless Trinity". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
- ^ a b c Luca, Greg (November 4, 2019). "Jhivvan Jackson ready to reprise dominant scoring role as UTSA opens season". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
- ^ a b c Whisler, John (January 19, 2018). "UTSA's Jackson making his mark as a freshman". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
- ^ Grosbard, Adam (February 26, 2017). "Boys basketball player of the week (Feb. 26): Euless Trinity's Jhivvan Jackson". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
- ^ "UTSA's Henson named Conference USA men's basketball coach of the year". KENS5. March 7, 2018. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
- ^ Luca, Greg (November 5, 2018). "As Jackson continues recovery, UTSA prepares for season opener". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
- ^ "Jackson scores career high, but UTSA loses". San Antonio Express-News. January 31, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
- ^ "Jackson scores 41 to lift UTSA over Illinois St. 89-70". ESPN. Associated Press. December 21, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
- ^ "Jhivvan Jackson tabbed national player of the week". UTSA Athletics. December 24, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
- ^ Florek, Michael (April 5, 2016). "Euless Trinity's Jhivvan Jackson named to Puerto Rico's U18 national team". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
- ^ "Jhivvan Jameel Jackson Melendez". FIBA. Retrieved January 6, 2020.