For most of his career at Utah, center Chris Jackson has been known more for his brains than his brawn, which isn't a bad thing. In fact, it's kind of refreshing in a world where the opposite is true for the majority of athletes.
Jackson has been close to a 4.0 student throughout his Ute career and already has earned a degree in the difficult field of chemical engineering. He's made the Dean's List every semester, and has twice been named to the MWC all-academic team.
However, this year, while he works on an MBA degree, Jackson is expecting to make more of an impact on the basketball floor as one of the leaders of a young Ute team coming off a 29-6 season.
The 6-foot-11 Jackson has started the Utes' two exhibition games and put up good numbers, making 11-of-12 shots and averaging 11.5 points and 4.5 rebounds. For perhaps the first time in his career at Utah, which has been plagued by injuries, he's healthy.
"I feel real good actually," Jackson said. "Last year I was recovering from back surgery and was still getting over it. It was a really long recovery. It took a long time for my body to get back to where it should be."
Jackson's problems began soon after he arrived in Utah from Los Alamos, N.M., where he was the state's player of the year in 2000-01.
As a freshman, he broke a bone in his foot and ended up redshirting. His back problems started soon after and toward the end of his sophomore season, it got so bad that he ended up flat on his back for a month. He had surgery and missed a month of school and needed six months of rehabilitation before getting back on the floor. He got through last season, but wasn't at his best.
Aside from his health problems, Jackson has a challenge in that he's — how shall we say it? — too nice. His teammates and coaches call him "Red," "Big Red" or "Jacks," but the moniker "Gentle Giant" would fit him as well.
Ray Giacoletti agrees Jackson is as nice as they come, but doesn't feel it hurts him on the floor.
"He's very genuine," said Giacoletti. "He's the ultimate team player. There's no better example for the other guys."
Another challenge for Jackson is taking the place of last year's Ute center, who just happened to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft and the consensus college player of the year.
Jackson just shrugs off the idea of filling Andrew Bogut's shoes and talks about how much he enjoyed playing with the big Aussie last year.
"It was really fun when I got to start with him," he said. "It was a great experience going against him in practice every day."
The Utes had some of their best games with Jackson starting alongside Bogut, but as the season went along, Giacoletti went with a smaller, quicker lineup. For the season, Jackson started eight games and averaged 2.4 points and 1.8 rebounds on 70.6 percent shooting from the field.
The modest Jackson is quick to downplay his 91.6 percent field goal shooting this year, saying, "When you're that close to the basket, you hope to make most of those."
Although he is a career 65.8 percent shooter from the field, Jackson has struggled from the foul line, making just 50 percent of his free throws. He wants to correct that this year.
"I've spent a lot of time working on my free throws," he said. "I hope to see some results from that."
Jackson may not start every game this year, with 7-foot-1 freshman Australian Luke Nevill lurking in the shadows. But Giacoletti figures Jackson will play about 20 minutes a game whether he starts or not.
With his degree in hand, Jackson could have left basketball behind this year, but wanted to come back for another season. He's in the first year of a two-year MBA degree.
His father is an MIT grad, who works at the National Laboratory in Los Alamos. Chris isn't sure what he'll do when he gets his MBA next year, but will have lots of options.
"He's persevered through some tough breaks and made the most of his educational opportunities," said Giacoletti. "He'll be a success in whatever he does."
Giacoletti is Jackson's biggest fan and he wouldn't mind having a whole team of players with his attitude.
"I think in athletics you have people who truly work hard and make the most of their situation, but have had bad luck along the way," he said. "If anyone deserves to have a great year, it's Chris. It would be really special if he had a great year."
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