Darnell Jackson

Darnell Jackson

Jackson dunking during his time with Cleveland
BC Donetsk
Forward
Personal information
Date of birth	November 7, 1985 (1985-11-07)
Place of birth	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Nationality	American
High school	Midwest City
Career information
College	Kansas
NBA Draft	2008 / Round: 2 / Pick: 52nd overall
Selected by the Miami Heat
Pro career	2008–present
Career history
Cleveland Cavaliers (2008-2010) Erie BayHawks (2009-2010) Milwaukee Bucks (2010) Sacramento Kings (2010-2011) BC Donetsk (2011-Present)
Stats at NBA.com

Darnell Edred Jackson (born November 7, 1985(1985-11-07) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) is an American professional basketball player for BC Donetsk in Ukraine. He is 6'9" and is 253 lbs. Jackson played for the University of Kansas in college for four seasons, including the 2008 national championship team. He did not become a regular starter at Kansas until the 2007–08 season (his senior year), when he replaced Sasha Kaun in the starting lineup.

Kansas career

Jackson, who did not begin playing basketball until the ninth grade, was called one of the most improved players in the nation after averaging 6.7 rebounds during his senior season at Kansas in 2007-08. He attracted some attention from NBA scouts after several breakout performances, including a 25-point, 9-rebound effort against Boston College. After this performance, he was named the co-winner of the Phillips 66 Big XII Player of the Week.

In 2005, Jackson's sophomore year, Jackson was suspended for nine games for accepting payments from Kansas booster Don Davis, a family friend. This was part of a rough year for him, as his grandmother had been killed by a drunk driver earlier in 2005. After scoring, Jackson often thumped his chest three times. Symbolically, one of the thumps was for Jackson's grandmother, one was for his mother, and one was for Davis.

He played a big role in the Jayhawks' 2008 championship season, leading the team in rebounds and shooting percentage.

Professional career

Drafted and signed by Cleveland

Jackson was selected as the 52nd overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft by the Miami Heat on June 26. He was traded to the Cavaliers on the same day. Interestingly, Sasha Kaun, his former Jayhawks teammate and fellow 2008 draft pick, was also acquired by the Cavaliers (from the Seattle Sonics), although as of May 2011, Kaun has never played in the NBA. Jackson was signed by the team on September 6, 2008.

2008 NBA Summer League

Jackson played for the Cavs during the NBA (National Basketball Accociation) Summer League in Las Vegas, Nevada. In five games (four starts) he averaged 5.8 points and 5.4 rebounds in 24.6 minutes per game.

2008–09

Jackson broke his wrist during the preseason and was inactive for the first 13 games of the Cavaliers' regular season. Jackson made his professional debut on November 25, 2008 against the New York Knicks. In six minutes of play, he scored four points on a perfect 2-2 from the field and grabbed two rebounds. On February 9, 2009, Jackson was assigned by the Cavs to their affiliate D-League team, the Erie Bayhawks. He played one game before being recalled back to the Cavs, a day later. In his only game with Erie, Jackson scored a game-high 24 points (on 10-of-14 field goals) in 26 minutes in a 101–89 win over Utah.

2009–10

On February 24, 2010, Jackson was assigned to the Erie BayHawks of the NBA D-League. On February 26, 2010, Jackson was recalled by the Cavaliers after Shaquille O'Neal sustained a significant thumb injury against the Boston Celtics on February 25. Jackson was sent down again on March 20, and recalled the next day. On March 23, he was waived by Cleveland due to the return of star center Zydrunas Ilgauskas. He was then claimed off waivers by the Milwaukee Bucks.

2010-11

On July 21, 2010, Jackson was traded to the Sacramento Kings for forward Jon Brockman.

2011–12

During the the 2011 NBA lockout, he signed with BC Donetsk of the Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague.

NBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2008–09	Cleveland	51	2	8.4	.430	.000	.686	1.7	.2	.2	.1	1.9
2009–10	Cleveland	27	0	4.2	.320	.333	.667	.7	.1	.1	.2	.8
2009–10	Milwaukee	1	0	9.0	.200	.0	.000	2.0	.0	.0	.0	2.0
2010–11	Sacramento	59	2	8.2	.487	.273	.612	1.6	.2	.2	.0	3.2
Career		138	4	7.5	.449	.235	.644	1.5	.2	.2	.1	2.2

External links

• NBA.com: Darnell Jackson Draft 2008 Profile
• NBA.com : Darnell Jackson Info Page