Luke Jackson (basketball)

Infobox NBA Player
name = Luke Jackson
nickname =

---

height_ft = 6
height_in = 7
weight_lbs = 215
league = NBA
team = Portland Trail Blazers
number =
position = Small forward/Shooting guard
birth_date = birth date and age|1981|11|6|
birth_place = Eugene, Oregon
highschool = Creswell (Oregon)
college = Oregon
nationality = American
draft = 10th overall
draft_team = Cleveland Cavaliers
draft_year = 2004
former_teams = Cleveland Cavaliers (2004-2006)
Idaho Stampede (2006-2007)
Los Angeles Clippers (2006-2007)
Toronto Raptors (2007)
Miami Heat (2008)
career_start = 2004
career_end =
profile = luke_jackson

Luke Ryan Jackson (born November 6, 1981, in Eugene, Oregon) is an American professional basketball player currently with the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers.

High school and college career

A four-year letterman in both basketball and baseball at Creswell High School, he was Oregon's Class AAA Basketball Player of the Year in 1998 and 2000. He averaged 24.2 points, 8.1 assists and 5.0 steals per game as a senior to help Creswell win the 2000 Oregon State Basketball Championship (Class AAA). He finished his career ranked fourth all-time in Oregon high school history, with 2,095 points.

Jackson contiuned his on court success with a storied four-season career at the University of Oregon, leading the Ducks to an Elite Eight finish in 2002 NCAA Tournament as a sophomore. Among his teammates at Oregon was Luke Ridnour, who currently plays for the Milwaukee Bucks and Fred Jones, who currently plays for the New York Knicks.

The guard is the only men's basketball player in school history to place in the top ten in nine different statistical categories. He is second all-time in points scored, third in total steals, fourth in assists and seventh in rebounds and is first in free throws made. Jackson is one of two Pac-10 players to score over 1,900 points, grab over 700 rebounds and contribute over 400 assists over their career. In one of the greatest individual performances of all-time at Mac Court, Jackson scored 40 points — including 29 straight in the second half and overtime — as Oregon overcame an 18-point deficit to defeat Colorado 77-72 in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament on March 17, 2004. He also became only the second freshman in Pac-10 history to record a triple-double when on February 17, 2001 he added 14 points, 11 rebounds and ten assists in a contest versus Washington. In his junior year, Jackson's second and final career triple-doubles against Florida A&M made him only the third Pac-10 player in history to achieve multiple career triple-doubles (joining Jason Kidd and Loren Woods).

Named to the Pac-10 All-Freshman Team in 2000–01, Pac-10 honorable mention in 2001–02, and All Pac-10 in 2002–03 and 2003–04, he also garnered All-American honors from The Sporting News, Basketball Times, ESPN.com and CBS SportsLine.com.

His senior campaign saw the lanky swingman lead Oregon in points (21.2), rebounds (7.2) and assists (4.5) while becoming a finalist for the John R. Wooden Award and Naismith College Player of the Year award. Jackson graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in political science.

NBA career

While he was selected by Cleveland with the tenth pick overall of the 2004 NBA Draft, his playing time with the Cavaliers was limited to only 46 games over his first two NBA seasons.That fall Cleveland traded Jackson, along with an undisclosed amount of cash, to the Boston Celtics in return for center Dwayne Jones; [cite web |url=http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2624064 |title=Cavs trade Jackson to Celtics for center Jones | date = 2006-10-13 | publisher = ESPN.com | accessdate = 2007-03-27] Jackson was waived before the 2006-07 season started on October 27. [cite web | url = http://celtics.bostonherald.com/celtics/view.bg?articleid=164386&srvc=sports | title = Luke out of luck with Celtics: Jackson among final cuts | last = Bulpett | first = Steve | date = 2007-10-27 | work = Boston Herald | accessdate = 2007-03-27]

Recovered from his injuries, Jackson signed with the Idaho Stampede of the NBDL. Jackson averaged 12.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 30.8 minutes in six games with Idaho, gaining the attention of the injury rattled Los Angeles Clippers. He signed to a 10-day contract in January 2007 with the Clippers, [cite web | url = http://www.nba.com/clippers/news/jacksonsigns_070108.html | title = Clippers Sign Luke Jackson to 10-Day Contract | date = 2007-01-08 | accessdate = 2007-03-27] but his stay in Los Angeles was brief, appearing in only three games.

On March 25, 2007, Jackson was signed to a 10-day contract by the Toronto Raptors to provide bench depth. [cite web |url=http://www.nba.com/raptors/news/pressrelease_jackson_032507.html |title=Raptors Sign Luke Jackson to 10-Day Contract | date = 2007-03-25 | accessdate = 2007-03-27] After performing well in limited minutes, he was signed to a second ten-day contract and then to a two-year pact with Toronto for the rest of the 2006-2007 NBA season, and the 2007-08 season as well. [cite web | url = http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=197213 | title = Raptors Sign F Luke Jackson | date = 2007-04-14 | accessdate = 2007-04-14 ]

On April 18, 2007, in Toronto's last game of the regular season, Jackson exploded for a career-high 30 points and 5 assists while logging a career maximum 39 minutes in a defeat to the Philadelphia 76ers.

On October 29, 2007, Jackson was waived by the Raptors. [ [http://www.nba.com/raptors/news/jackson_102907.html Raptors Waive Jackson, Set Opening Night Roster] ] He was reacquired by the Idaho Stampede on December 4, 2007. He scored 30 points in his first game with that club, and then left the team for a workout with the Miami Heat. On December 12, 2007, the Heat waived Anfernee Hardaway to clear a roster spot for Jackson. [ [http://www.nba.com/heat/news/heat_sign_jackson_waive_hardaway_071212.html HEAT Sign Luke Jackson, Waive Hardaway] ] [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=nba&id=3152038 Penny Hardaway waived by Heat, making room for Luke Jackson] ]

During his stay in Miami, Jackson has averaged 8.9 points, 1.0 rebound and 0.7 assists. He was waived by the Miami Heat on February 6 2008. [ [http://www.nba.com/heat/news/HEAT_waive_lukejackson.html HEAT Waive Luke Jackson] ]

He played one game with the team earlier in the season before being called to the Heat. He scored 30 points in 31 minutes with 7-14 shooting, including 11-11 at the free throw line and 5-6 form long range. He also had 4 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal, 1 blocked shot, 3 turnovers, and 0 personal fouls.

He was signed by the Portland Trail Blazers in August 2008. [ [http://www.kval.com/sports/college/27604414.html Blazers sign former Duck star Jackson] ]

Personal information

*Occasionally spends time working out with the Class A affliated Eugene Emeralds of minor league baseball.
*On February 22, 2008 he rejoined the Idaho Stampede of the D-League.

Career averages

Notes

External links

*NBA-profile|luke_jackson|Luke Jackson
*basketball-reference|id=j/jackslu02|name=Luke Jackson
* [http://www.nba.com/dleague/idaho/jackson_061219.html D-League profile]