BASKETBALL – Andre Jackson Jr. is setting his sights on the NBA.
Jackson, the Amsterdam native and Albany Academy graduate who played a major role in UConn winning this past season’s NCAA men’s basketball championship, kept his name in the NBA Draft pool on Wednesday, the deadline day for early-entry prospects to withdraw their names from the draft.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the news Wednesday night.
The NBA Draft will be held June 22 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Jackson, a 6-foot-6 wing, is projected by national mock drafts to be selected somewhere in the late first or early second round.
Two other Capital Region products withdrew their names from draft consideration earlier in the process. Glens Falls native Joseph Girard III withdrew from the draft while opting to transfer from Syracuse to Clemson, while former Troy High standout Boo Buie opted to return to Northwestern.
Jackson was an integral part of UConn’s championship run. He was named a co-captain by Huskies coach Dan Hurley this past season, when he averaged 6.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game.
During UConn’s six-game NCAA tournament run, he totaled 40 points, 33 rebounds and 41 assists. He scored 16 points in the Huskies’ first two wins of the tournament over Iona and Saint Mary’s at MVP Arena in Albany, and flirted with a triple-double when he put up eight points, nine rebounds and 10 assists in UConn’s West Region championship win over Gonzaga. Jackson’s tournament performance elevated him to a potential first-round selection.
The son of former Fulton-Montgomery Community College basketball players Tricia Altieri and Andre Jackson Sr., Jackson Jr. broke out on the Capital Region basketball scene at a young age, eventually heading to Albany Academy for a four-year high school career under then-Cadets head coach Brian Fruscio.
Jackson, who played on the AAU circuit with the powerful Albany City Rocks program, chose UConn in 2019 over offers from Syracuse, Maryland, UCLA and Iowa.
Jackson could become the third Capital Region product selected in the first round of the draft in the last 12 years. Glens Falls native Jimmer Fredette was drafted 10th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks — and was subsequently traded to the Sacramento Kings — after being the national player of the year at Brigham Young in 2011, while Shenendehowa High School product Kevin Huerter was taken 19th overall by the Atlanta Hawks out of Maryland in 2018 and currently plays for the Kings.
Jackson would also join a select group of Amsterdam natives to move onto the professional ranks. Dale Stanavich, a 2017 Amsterdam High graduate, is the most recent athlete from the area to be drafted by a pro team. Stanavich was taken in the 2022 MLB Draft by the Miami Marlins and is currently a pitcher in the club’s minor league system.
The most recent athlete from Amsterdam to play in one of the four major professional sports leagues is Josh Beekman, who was drafted by the Chicago Bears out of Boston College in 2007 and played in 28 games over three NFL seasons.
Jackson’s younger brother, Marcus, is a rising sophomore on the UAlbany men’s basketball team who became the Great Danes’ starting point guard over the second half of last season.
Reach Adam Shinder at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @Adam_Shinder.
Categories: -Sports-, College Sports, Sports
