It can all be traced back to Akron, Ohio. This is where senior swingman Dwayne Jackson, who has lettered all four of his years at Binghamton University for the men’s basketball team, calls home.
Jackson was raised by his mother, Althea, and his father, Dwayne Sr., in Akron. He is one of three children; his younger brother is currently a pre-med major at the University of Toledo and his sister is back in Akron working as a nurse.
Jackson credits his father for first exposing him to the game which now consumes so much of his time.
“I started playing ball when I was three with my dad,” he said. “He bought me a Little Tykes hoop.”
Although this was the start of the evolution of Jackson’s trademark silky-smooth lefty jump shot, he would soon outgrow the soft rubber ball and plastic rim and move on to bigger and better things.
Many may know the city of Akron as the hometown of current NBA superstar LeBron James.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Akron has a population of just over 200,000. As a basis for comparison, Broome County has a little less than 200,000 inhabitants. Clearly, neither Akron nor Broome County is any sort of one-horse-town, where everyone knows each other and each other’s business. So, it would seem, the chances that LeBron, who is two years Jackson’s senior, had much to do with Jackson are slim.
Then behold this story told by Jackson.
“LeBron grew up only one street away from me; that’s how we met, we played on the same Pee-Wee football team and we used to play in each others’ backyards,” Jackson said.
Jackson could have done worse in terms of his competition. James’ basketball accomplishments are well documented (check the box score of any Cleveland Cavaliers game), though it has also been said that James, had he stuck with football, would have been as surefire of an NFL player as NFL players get.
According to Jackson, who described himself as a multi-sport athlete, his community did have a large influence on his development as an athlete. All of his friends played basketball and football.
“I played with all of my friends and some older guys in the neighborhood.” Jackson said.
As Jackson grew older, he went on to star at Walsh Jesuit High School, where he was the school’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder. During his senior year at WJHS, The Associated Press ranked the squad as the fourth-best team in the state of Ohio. Needless to say, Jackson received interest from college coaches who wanted to exchange an all-expenses-paid college education for his services on their respective schools’ basketball teams. The five colleges who were aggressively going after Jackson were Bowling Green, Buffalo, Akron, Kent State and Binghamton. Jackson felt at home with the Bearcats and former head coach Al Walker, and eventually signed his letter of intent to play at Binghamton.
However, the start to Jackson’s college basketball career was not quite as seamless as he would have liked. Jackson was told during the recruitment process that Walker was looking for a scorer. However, Jackson did not see much court time during his first two seasons due to lackluster defensive play.
Broadus could not have arrived soon enough for the swingman whose talents were wasting away on the bench under the former coaching staff.
“I was happy [Broadus] came because it was like a new start for me after my sophomore year,” Jackson said. “He basically revived my career.”
Although Broadus also recognized that Jackson’s defense is a work in progress, the positive sentiments from Jackson were returned by Broadus.
He calls Jackson the best shooter on the team.
“Once the other team goes to zone [defense, where outside shooting becomes more valuable], you’ll see him step right in,” Broadus said.
Jackson’s coach was also quite complimentary of his ability to bond with teammates and boost the spirits of those around him.
“He’s been great with showing the new guys around,” said Broadus. “They go out together. [Last year] we were individuals. We were separate. He’s helped bring everyone together … He has that type of personality.”
Jackson shares a suite on campus with newcomer Theo Davis, as well as senior Jaan Montgomery, senior Reggie Fuller and junior David Fine.
Dwayne’s dedication to this season and to the longevity of the basketball program showed this summer when he stayed at school and worked on his game with Davis. Davis, a 6-foot-9 sophomore transfer from Gonzaga, and Jackson woke up every morning at 9 a.m. to put in work on the court or in the weight room.
Jackson, who says that his game most closely resembles Paul Pierce of the world-champion Boston Celtics because of their knack for scoring the ball despite a relative lack of quickness, also hopes that his hard work will lead to a future career in basketball.
His goal is to play professionally, either in this country or overseas. However, Binghamton has given him a strong base to fall back on should basketball not work out. For one, the coaching staff recognizes that the players will not all play basketball for the rest of their lives, and that it is important to give them skills that they can use for life after the game which has consumed so much of their time.
“I demand excellence from him,” Broadus said. “This prepares you for life outside of basketball. You can’t shortcut. It’s going to hurt a little bit, but you got to fight through it.”
Jackson, a human development major, will graduate at the end of the spring semester, and says that if he doesn’t make it in basketball, he will pursue a career in real-estate. If the sharp-shooting lefty is as smooth at making a sales pitch as he is at splashing the net with a jump shot, he is in a good position to continue his recent trend of success.