True Warrior

The crowd never chanted his name as they did Gyno Pomare’s when he sauntered up and down the hardwood here at the JCP. He never received the plethora of media attention that Brandon Johnson has garnered over the years, from beat reporters to bloggers alike. But when De’Jon Jackson’s USD career came to a end after an ACL tear last Thursday, the least I could do is dedicate 500 words to what I consider to be USD’s iron man.
Every team has that glue guy that holds the squad together. The Lakers have Fisher, Vinny Chase has E and the Toreros had Jackson. If we needed someone to take on point guard duties, he could fill in. If we needed a defensive stopper, he would play like he was 6’8’’ power forward instead of the deceiving 6’2’’ he is. If we needed free throws down the stretch, the second ranked free throw shooter in the WCC would ice the game and send the student section home happy.
Last season, he looked like a mummy with all the bandages and wraps he had on when he became the de-facto, yet effective ball handler. This was due to Brandon Johnson’s injury and the lack of competent point guards the Toreros had. If he didn’t play with all those nagging injuries, that season could have been even more disappointing than it already was.
Remember when the team was doing their best impression of the 2001 Portland Trail Blazers and Coach Grier was on a crusade against his team handing out suspensions like a grandma hands out Tootsie Rolls and Dots on Halloween? Jackson was the one player I could not remember having to serve a suspension for extra-curricular activities.
And how could we forget 2008, when USD had a taste of what it was like to be a real basketball school.  When you are 80 years old, sitting on your patio, drinking lemonade in front of your white picket fence with your golden retriever by your side, and you are rambling on about your college days to your grandkids, you will mention how the small but mighty Toreros defeated the powerhouse University of Connecticut.
You will exaggerate the fact that the Toreros had never won a tourney game before. You will also not be able to avoid the name De’Jon Jackson.
You will describe to your grandkids how he caught the ball with the 5.2 seconds left, dribbled to the elbow and faded away like this guy they might have heard of called Jordan and sent UConn packing.
Even if he doesn’t break any records at USD or the crowd doesn’t chant his name, that shot put USD basketball on the map and forever cemented the story of number 23 from USD into the tales we will one day tell our kids and grandkids alike