Photo By Chuck Cannon | Pickering High School sophomore wing, DeShawn Jackso, puts up a three-point shot over...... read more read more
FORT POLK, La. — If basketball is one of your favorite spectator sports, then perhaps you should check out the next time Pickering High School laces up the sneakers and hits the hardwood.
The local school’s boys’ team features the exploits of a youngster — DeShawn Jackson — with ties to Fort Polk and lofty goals of playing major college hoops — a goal that his coach says is reachable.
Jackson’s grandfather, Dennis Jackson, is a retired Army first sergeant who ended his active-duty career at Fort Polk, and his mother, Danisha Jackson-Mathes, works at Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital.
DeShawn recently tallied 46 points against Pitkin High School and his coach, Brandon Jordan, said the sophomore is one of the more talented players he’s coached.
“You could see right away what a good athlete he was,” Jordan said. “He was first team all-district last year as a freshman. He came close to being district most valuable player.”
Jordan said Jackson is even better this year.
“His outside shot has improved,” Jordan said. “He’s going to start drawing a lot of attention from opposing defenses. He’s the type of kid who is going to play at the next (college) level.”
After last season, Jordan said he thought his leading scorer might be able to play at a small division one school — but he’s now reconsidered.
“With his improvement, there’s no reason he can’t play at LSU or Arkansas or some of these big-boy conference schools with big-time programs,” Jordan said. “He’s the best athlete we have in the whole school — as a sophomore. He played quarterback on the football team, he won the district high jump as a freshmen. He’s a talented kid.”
And Jordan said Jackson’s athletic abilities aren’t even his biggest asset.
“The best part about him is he is even better as a person,” Jordan said. “As a sophomore he’s a leader. The other kids listen to him and respect him. He’s willing to be a leader and comfortable with it.”
Dennis Jackson, who retired from the Army in 2002 and now works for the Directorate of Public Works, said — tongue-in-cheek — that his grandson gets his athletic skills from him.
“You know I’m gonna take all the credit,” he said. “I played in high school, but he’ll play in college. He’s already getting letters from schools like Kansas. No surprise to me — he’s been a good athlete all his life.”
Jackson’s dad, Robert Mathes, is quiet and soft-spoken, yet when he speaks about his son, the pride is evident.
“He’s been playing ball since he was young,” Mathes said. “He has a passion for it. I’m going to always be there for him and support him in whatever he does.”
Jackson’s mom sees her son’s basketball skills as nothing short of amazing.
“It’s exciting and brings joy to my heart watching him play,” she said.
So much so that she and her husband hustled him off to Shreveport last summer to play Amateur Athletic Union ball and on a traveling team sponsored by NBA all-star and former Grambling High School and Louisiana Tech University star Paul Millsap.
“He was used to this area, so to go off to Shreveport and Monroe and see other kids who were talented and had the same passion he did, inspired him to work even harder,” Jackson-Mathes said. “There were about 40 boys that tried out for the team and they only chose 15 so he was fortunate.
She said her son already has a stack of letters from colleges by his bed.
“He’s A/B honor roll and will start taking his ACTs soon, so he’s getting ready and taking it serious,” she said.
For Jackson, all of the attention can be a little overwhelming at times, but he said he just continues to practice all he can and work on his shot.
“I’m in the gym a lot, working on my drills, doing everything I can to get better,” he said. “This summer I played on a traveling team with a lot of great players and we traveled around the country. It was a great experience and helped me improve. It made me a better player.”
Although Jackson said he would most likely continue to play football in high school, basketball is his favorite.
“I like football, but I love basketball and that’s what I want to play the most,” he said. “I hope to play traveling ball on the same team next summer.”
As for post high school plans, Jackson has his sights set high.
“LSU or Texas A&M are where I’d like to play,” he said. “I went to a camp at Texas A&M, but LSU is my first choice.”
The next opportunity to catch Jackson and his Pickering High School teammates in action is Dec. 18 when they entertain Rapides High School at Pickering Gym. Tip off is 7:30 p.m.
| Date Taken: | 12.07.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 12.07.2018 10:31 |
| Story ID: | 302571 |
| Location: | FORT POLK, LOUISIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 458 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Jackson provides leadership, basketball skills to Pickering cagers, by Chuck Cannon, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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