Ex-player adds experience to staff
record by playing 137 career games. The Musketeers went 107-32 in his time there. As a senior, he averaged 7.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2 assists and about 2 3-pointers per game. He made two Sweet 16s and an Elite Eight, but lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Marquette in 2011.
In 2010, he helped Xavier defeat Woodall’s Panthers in the second round of the tournament, 71-68. Now, they look forwardto coaching together.
“I think Tray and I are going to be creative in how we approach it because he’s played in the NCAA tournament, I’ve played in the NCAA tournament, and I think that’s really the standard here,” Jackson said. “That’s what we’re trying to get back to on a daily, yearly, monthly basis is working every day to have an opportunity to play in the NCAA tournament.”
After Jackson’s playing career ended, he joined John Groce at Ohio University as a graduate assistant. It was at Ohio where he met, and exchanged numbers, with Toole, who at that point was a second-year head coach at Robert Morris.
He served two years as a graduate assistant at Xavier before leaving for stints as an assistant coach at Northern Kentucky and Air Force. When an assistant coaching job at Robert Morris opened, he leaped at the opportunity.
Robert Morris is young this year,with no returning upperclassmen from the past season. Jackson hopes he, along with Woodall and the rest of the coaches, can figure out howto maximize the potential of this roster without experienced senior stole an on.
“A lot of it is really showing them that one, hey, we can still play, and two, this is how it has to be done every single day,” Jackson said. “I think it’s going to be a constant theme for us as we move forward, just to show because again, we don’t have all the answers to the riddle. But we have enough to help our guys get going down the right path.”
Omari Sankofa II: osankofa@post-gazette.com and Twitter @omarisankofa.