The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Andre Jackson Jr. will be a popular guy in Albany
If Andre Jackson Jr.’s family and friends convene at a local restaurant in Albany this week, that restaurant might want to consider closing to the rest of the public, or at least dedicating one of its wings to Jackson’s party.
It’ll be a big party.
“He’s got quite a following,” said Brian Fruscio, who coached Jackson Jr. for four years at Albany Academy. “And that’s a tribute to him, because he’s such a nice person. That’s the tribute: Somebody who has his head up, who’s willing to say hello, who loves his music but is willing to take his headset off and talk with people. That’s what makes him special.”
Jackson returns “home” this week when the UConn men’s basketball team faces Iona in an NCAA Tournament first-round game on Friday at Albany’s MVP Arena (4:30 p.m., TBS). Jackson, who hails from Amsterdam, N.Y., about 45 miles northwest of Albany, had a feeling the Huskies might be ticketed to New York’s capital city. Still, when it became official on the CBS Selection Show on Sunday evening, there was elation.
“My mom texted me, she said she’s so happy she might cry,” Jackson said. “It’s crazy. I’m definitely excited for it. I can’t wait.”
Presumably, neither can Jackson’s many fans in the Albany area. The 6-foot-6 UConn junior was very popular at Albany Academy, not only as a basketball star recruited by numerous high-level programs, but as a genuinely good person.
Fruscio remembers seeing Jackson eating lunch with younger kids, all of whose names Jackson had remembered from working at the school’s basketball camp.
“He might be walking by, ‘Hey Andre, would you come in and eat lunch with us?,’ ” Fruscio recalled. “The next thing I know, he’s with a group of fourth-graders or seventh-graders, just because they wanted to spend some time with Andre. And he just couldn’t say no. So, there he was during his free period, sitting at the lunch table making some kid’s year.”
According to Fruscio, it all stems from Jackson’s large, nuclear family — particularly his mom, Tricia Altieri, the “driving force” in his life.
“Everything, somehow, someway, circles back to his family,” Fruscio said. “Whether it’s him being an old soul because of the time he spent with grandpa and grandma growing up, and all the cousins being around, he’s comfortable with the little kids.”
Fruscio is very tight with the Jackson family. His son, Jack, is a manager of the University of Albany men’s basketball team, where Andre’s younger brother, Marcus, just finished his freshman season as a guard who, like Andre, wears No. 44.
“The close get closer,” Fruscio noted. Fruscio is actually physically closer to Andre Jackson (as well as Yale junior August Mahoney, another Albany Academy grad) after taking over the head coaching reins at Canterbury School in New Milford last summer following 16 seasons at Albany Academy. He’s been to numerous UConn home games this season, as well as last week’s Big East Tournament, and will head back to Albany this week for UConn’s game on Friday (and, he hopes, on Sunday, too).
It’s been a mercurial season for Jackson, a dynamic athlete, defender, distributor and rebounder who has also struggled at times with foul troubles, turnovers and, most notably, shooting. During one 12-game stretch, with teams almost disrespectfully sagging off him and inviting him to shoot, Jackson was 4-for-24 from 3.
Through it all, Fruscio refrained from offering any unsolicited advice or support out of respect to the UConn coaching staff.
“I value the coaching profession, and know that as a coach, we want to limit the voices that go into players’ ears,” he said. “They want to be primary voices, not secondary voices. When he asked for my voice, I would talk to him.”
Jackson did seek Fruscio’s voice.
“He hit seven 3’s the last game he played for me,” Fruscio recalled, “so, I told him to play free, get downhill as much as he can, keep getting the ball off his fingertips, make sure (Jordan Hawkins) has a couple extra seconds to shoot it. Keep setting the big guys up with his great post feeds. Being a little bit more present defensively. And hit it in rhythm. If’ he’s going to shoot it, don’t hesitate, don’t think about it. Get back to freeing himself up a little bit mentally.”