Chandler Jackson welcomed big responsibility as Christian Brothers’ young floor general
After Christian Brothers lost to Baylor in the quarterfinals round of the Division II-AA Boys State Tournament, the Purple Wave head coach Bubba Luckett took time out to reflect on a successful season he didn’t see coming. With a straight…
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Continue ReadingAfter Christian Brothers lost to Baylor in the quarterfinals round of the Division II-AA Boys State Tournament, the Purple Wave head coach Bubba Luckett took time out to reflect on a successful season he didn’t see coming.
With a straight face, coach Luckett admitted he didn’t see his team winning 20 games, mainly because he was coaching a young group of players.
But Christian Brothers (20-9) exceeded his expectations and for most, if not all, of the 2018 season, the Purple Wave were led by freshman point guard Chandler Jackson. Jackson, at 6-foot-3, can do just about anything that he wants to do because of his size and upper body strength.
Jackson was one of Christian Brothers’ best free throw shooters this season, converting on 73 percent of his foul shots. He’s hard to guard in a man-to-man defense, and he’s a great finisher at the rim to just be in the early stages of his high school basketball career.
“I think with strength in the weight room, he’s going to be able to finish shots that he gets bumped on a little bit from the free throw line and in that sometimes he doesn’t,” Luckett said. “He’s a good free throw shooter, he’s got good 3-point range. He’s a good rebounder. He’s a good ball handler.
“He’s had some of the most unbelievable blocks this year you have ever seen. He had five blocks against MUS, and I think all five of them were probably leading to points. He’s just one of these guys that good players play well in big games, and he does that. The bigger the game, the more reputation the team we’re playing, those are his best games.”
Coach Luckett was spot on about Jackson. In the opening minutes of the first quarter against the Red Raiders, Jackson scored the Purple Wave’s first four points of the game and went on to score 11 points in the opening eight minutes and was the primary reason Christian Brothers jumped out to a 24-16 lead.
But Baylor quickly went to zone defense and forced Jackson’s teammates to make shots. Sophomore shooting guard Reese McMullen, who’s deadly from mid and 3-point range, couldn’t find his shot once Jackson was taken out of the game offensively. McMullen finished with just five points on 2 of 13 shooting from the field, which included him going 1 for 7 from 3.
Jackson led the Purple Wave with 21 points, and Jackson, who was told by Luckett early on in the season that he would have to led the team offensively, didn’t shy away from the responsibility that was placed on his shoulders.
In Christian Brothers’ 42-40 win over the Owls on Feb. 15, Jackson finished with 13 points and five assists to go along with the five blocks Luckett raved about after the win. In the three games of the Gulf Breeze Beach Holiday Tournament back in December, Jackson combined to score 45 points, pull down 17 rebounds, and dish out 12 assists and was named MVP of the tournament.
For the season, Jackson averaged 15 points, 4.2 rebounds, and three assists a game, while shooting 49 percent from the field.
Jackson, not Luckett, was shocked by what he was able to accomplish this season as a young, starting point guard. But his coach saw the potential over the summer.
“Well, he’s one of the best I have had if he was a senior right now,” Luckett said. “I mean, he’s that good.”
Luckett can consider himself lucky heading into the 2019 season. His backcourt of Jackson and McMullen (11.9 ppg) will be back, along with guards Eli Federman, Harrison Kelly, Zion Owens, and Sam Spence. But the Purple Wave’s weakness will probably be in the frontcourt. Christian Brothers is losing forwards Clint Channell and Bill Norton to graduation.
“We have a lot of really good, young guards,” Luckett said. “I think we will be better next year than what we were this year because of the experience. We are going to be hard to guard. We’re not going to be very big, but we’re going to be hard to guard.”