Almost a year to the day it was announced he was coming back to the Utah basketball program, Marc Jackson has decided to leave.
Jackson, who was named second-team all-Mountain West Conference as well as the league's "sixth man of the year," is apparently not planning to transfer and will forgo his final two years of eligibility of college basketball to pursue other interests.
Jackson recently returned from his honeymoon and couldn't be reached for comment Monday night, but according to Utah coach Rick Majerus, the point guard is leaving on good terms with the Ute coach and his decision is not basketball-related.
"Marc called me Sunday evening and indicated that he would like to forgo the rest of his eligibility and graduate early from school," Majerus said. "He felt he had a career waiting for him as a developer and had lost his interest and passion for the game."
Although Jackson had never indicated to the media any dissatisfaction with his role on the team or any plans to leave early, he had said earlier in the season that he had a good job awaiting him in development when he got through with school.
Jackson was hobbled with an ankle injury for almost half of the season, but once he got healthy, he became a key cog in the Utes' drive to a co-MWC regular-season title. He averaged 13.1 points on 51 percent shooting during MWC play and also shot 47.7 percent from 3-point range and 84.3 from the foul line. Besides being one of three Utes named to the all-MWC second team, he was selected as top sixth man in the media poll.
Some Ute observers felt the 25-8 team might have been more like 21-12 without Jackson, who led the Utes to road victories over UNLV, BYU, Colorado State and Wyoming. He was also the Utes' leading scorer in both NCAA tournament games with 14 against Oregon and 19 against Kentucky.
After an all-state career at Olympus High, Jackson joined the Ute program in 2000-01. He played sparingly under interim coach Dick Hunsaker, then after an abbreviated LDS mission he enrolled at Utah Valley State College for a semester in 2002. On April 11 last year, Jackson said he was rejoining the Ute program and expected to compete for a starting position.
Although he never started, Jackson ended up playing more minutes than starter Tim Drisdom and surpassed him in nearly every statistical category.
With Drisdom and Jackson, the Utes appeared to have a great 1-2 punch at point guard for the next two years, but Majerus said he is confident that incoming freshmen guards Ryan Werch and Josh Olsen would do an excellent job as backups.
While Jackson's departure may be a surprise, having a player leave is nothing new to the Utah basketball program under Majerus.
Last year, five players left or were asked to leave the Ute program, including Lance Allred, Cameron Goettsche, Eric Osmundson, Martin Osimani and Chris Huber.
A Deseret News article last May detailed the number of players who had left the Ute program since Majerus came to Utah in 1989. An average of three players per season have left the program, and just over a third of the 69 recruits made it to their senior seasons, with only 13 players playing for four seasons.
Three years ago the NCAA instituted its "5-8" rule, in response to programs with revolving doors such as Utah's. The rule states that a school cannot sign more than five scholarship players in one season and no more than eight over a two-year period. The rule was amended to nine for a two-year period but will revert to eight next year.
Because of all the players leaving last year, the Utes played under the scholarship limit of 13 with only 10 this year and will be under the limit again next year with Jackson's departure with 11 scholarship players likely for 2003-04.
The Utes have six players returning and signed three players during the fall signing period. They are expected to sign one player during the spring signing period, which begins Wednesday. The Utes will also welcome Australian Andrew Bogut, who was originally to join the team this season.
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