Demetrius Montell Jackson Jr. (born September 7, 1994) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player who last played for

Joventut Badalona Club Joventut Badalona, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional basketball club based in Badalona, Catalonia, Spain, playing in the Liga ACB and the EuroCup. Known to their fans as ''La Penya'' (in English, ''The Club''), it is one of only two teams ...

of the Spanish

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, ...

. He played three seasons of college basketball for the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main c ...

before being drafted 45th overall by the Celtics in the 2016 NBA draft.

High school career

Jackson played high school basketball for Marian High School. As a junior, he averaged 22.3

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of points by nu ...

, 6.6 rebounds per game, 4.4 assists per game, and 2.0 steals per game; led his school to sectional championship; and was named to the All-State Underclass First Team. As a senior, Jackson averaged 25.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 2.6 steals per game, finishing as runner-up for the

Indiana Mr. Basketball The Indiana Mr. Basketball honor recognizes the top high school basketball player in the state of Indiana. The award is presented annually by ''The Indianapolis Star''. The first Indiana Mr. Basketball was George Crowe of Franklin High School in ...

Zak Irvin Zakarie Tyler Irvin (born September 5, 1994) is an American professional basketball player who is currently a free agent. He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines. He earned the 2013 Indiana Mr. Basketball and Indiana Boys Bask ...

. He concluded his career at Marian as the all-time leading scorer in St. Joseph County with 1,934 career points. His performances with Marian earned him a selection for the 2013 McDonald's All-American Boys Game, and he was the first

Northern Indiana Northern Indiana is a region of the U.S. State of Indiana, including 26 counties which border the states of Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio. Northern Indiana is also considered part of the Great Lakes Megalopolis. The area is generally classified i ...

native to receive this honor since

Shawn Kemp Shawn may refer to: *Shawn (given name) *Shawn (surname) See also * Sean * Shaun Shaun is an anglicized spelling of the Irish name Seán. Alternative spellings include Shawn, Sean and Shawne. Notable persons with the given name include: Peo ...

in 1988. Jackson finished the game with 5 points, 4 assists, and 2 steals and won the Jack Daly Sportmanship Award and the Skills Competition.

College career

Freshman season

Jackson committed to play for Notre Dame, under coach Mike Brey. In his freshman season he was expected to back up guards Eric Atkins and

Jerian Grant Holdyn Jerian Grant (born October 9, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for Türk Telekom B.K., Türk Telekom of the Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL). He played college basketball with the University of Notre Dame and was considered on ...

. Jackson commented on the situation, saying that although he had been apprehensive to play along a senior point guard, he realized that it would benefit his game. He scored in double digits for the first time versus Santa Clara, tallying 13 points. In February, he missed two games in order to deal with academic issues. Upon returning to the team, he scored a season-high 17 points against

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

. He concluded the season having started half of his 30 games and averaging 6.0 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game.

Sophomore season

In his sophomore season, Jackson scored a career-high 22 points against

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

; this was the first meeting between the schools in 35 years. A couple of weeks later, he tied this mark against Purdue. Jackson produced solid performances for the Irish in the 2015 ACC tournament against

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

, and

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

and he was eventually named to the All-ACC Tournament second team. He helped his team proceed to the Elite 8 of the 2015 NCAA tournament by scoring 20 points against

Wichita State Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

. Throughout the season, he averaged 12.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, appearing in all 38 games of his team. On April 14, 2015, it was reported by ESPN that Jackson would return to the Fighting Irish squad for his junior season.

Junior season

On February 1, 2016, he was named one of 10 finalists for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award. He was named to the 35-man midseason watchlist for the

Naismith Trophy The Naismith Trophy is a trophy awarded to the men's champion of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, and is named in honor of basketball's inventor, James Naismith. The trophy was first awarded to the winner of the 1967 FIBA World Championship. The ...

on February 11. On March 29, 2016, Jackson declared for the NBA draft, forgoing his final year of college eligibility.

Professional career

Boston Celtics (2016–2017)

On June 23, 2016, Jackson was selected by the Boston Celtics with the 45th overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft. On July 27, 2016, he signed with the Celtics. On November 6, he made his professional debut in a 123–107 loss to the Denver Nuggets, recording eight points, three rebound and two assists in 11 minutes off the bench. During his rookie season, he has received multiple assignments to the

Maine Red Claws The Maine Celtics (formerly the Maine Red Claws) are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Portland, Maine, and are affiliated with the Boston Celtics. The Maine Celtics play their home games at the Portland Expo B ...

, the Celtics'

D-League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...

affiliate. On July 15, 2017, Jackson was waived by the Celtics.

Houston Rockets (2017–2018)

On August 21, 2017, Jackson signed a

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless of ...

by the Houston Rockets. Under the terms of the deal, he split time between the Rockets and their G League affiliate, the

Rio Grande Valley Vipers The Rio Grande Valley Vipers are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Edinburg, Texas, and are affiliated with the Houston Rockets. The Vipers play their home games at the Bert Ogden Arena. The Vipers have won fo ...

, becoming the first player in franchise history to sign such a deal. While he got playing time in Houston early in the season due to an injury to

Chris Paul Christopher Emmanuel Paul (born May 6, 1985), nicknamed "CP3" and “The Point God”, is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Paul is widely regarded as one o ...

, his playing time declined in the weeks following Paul's return. As a result, his two-way contract with Houston was terminated on January 6, 2018, although he would sign a 10-day contract with the Rockets the same day. He was assigned to Rio Grande Valley immediately and took part in the 2018 G League Showcase.

Philadelphia 76ers (2018–2019)

On January 14, 2018, Jackson was signed to a two-way contract with the Philadelphia 76ers and

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...

affiliate the

Delaware 87ers Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

. He was re-signed to a second two-way deal for the 2018–19 season.

South Bay Lakers (2019–2020)

On August 13, 2019, the Los Angeles Lakers announced that they had signed Jackson. On October 21, 2019, Jackson was waived by the Lakers. He was then added to the roster of the

South Bay Lakers The South Bay Lakers are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Los Angeles. Founded in 2006 as the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the team is owned by the Los Angeles Lakers, who were the first National Basketball Associa ...

Rytas Vilnius (2020)

On August 8, 2020, Jackson signed with Rytas Vilnius of the

Lithuanian Basketball League Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...

(LKL). On October 1, 2020, after averaging 13 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 8.5 assists per game, Jackson was named the Lithuanian League

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of September. On October 30, 2020, Jackson terminated his contract with Rytas Vilnius due to undisclosed family circumstances, possibly related with health concerns as the club sincerely wished good health to his relatives.

Joventut Badalona (2021)

On January 29, 2021, he has signed with

of the Spanish

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

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Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

, 12 , , 0 , , 5.3 , , .286 , , .000 , , – , , .9 , , .4 , , .3 , , .1 , , .7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, 3 , , 0 , , 5.7 , , .750 , , 1.000 , , .500 , , .3 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , .0 , , 2.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 6 , , 0 , , 6.5 , , .533 , , .333 , , 1.000 , , .5 , , .8 , , .3 , , .0 , , 3.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 26 , , 0 , , 5.2 , , .486 , , .286 , , .667 , , .7 , , .7 , , .3 , , .0 , , 1.8

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;", Notre Dame , 30 , , 15 , , 22.2 , , .420 , , .417 , , .780 , , 2.1 , , 1.8 , , .4 , , .0 , , 6.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;", Notre Dame , 38 , , 38 , , 34.7 , , .508 , , .429 , , .745 , , 3.6 , , 3.1 , , 1.6 , , .3 , , 12.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;", Notre Dame , 35 , , 35 , , 36.0 , , .451 , , .331 , , .813 , , 3.5 , , 4.7 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , 15.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 103 , , 88 , , 31.5 , , .467 , , .381 , , .782 , , 3.1 , , 3.3 , , 1.1 , , .2 , , 11.7

Personal life

Jackson, a

South Bend South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...

native, is the son of Juanita Jones. Jackson lived in two different foster homes after the age of twelve, before finally settling with the Whitfields, the family of then basketball teammate Michael Whitfield. As a student in the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

, he enrolled in the College of Arts and Letters.

References

External links

Notre Dame Fighting Irish bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Demetrius 1994 births Living people African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Lithuania American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Basketball players from South Bend, Indiana BC Rytas players Boston Celtics draft picks Boston Celtics players Delaware 87ers players Delaware Blue Coats players Houston Rockets players Joventut Badalona players Liga ACB players Maine Red Claws players McDonald's High School All-Americans Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball players People from Mishawaka, Indiana Philadelphia 76ers players Point guards Rio Grande Valley Vipers players South Bay Lakers players 21st-century African-American sportspeople