Tony Jackson, a native of Brooklyn, starred for St. John's on
the hardwood under the Joe Lapchick, lettering three times from
1958-59 to 1960-61. A two-time consensus All-American, Jackson is
currently listed ninth among all-time St. John's scoring leaders
with 1,603 points. He is also third on the all-time rebounding list
with 991 career boards. In his first season in 1958-59, Jackson
helped the team to the Postseason NIT title, scoring 20.0 points
per game. That year he was named Most Valuable Player of both the
NIT and the ECAC Holiday Festival. He set a then-school record that
season with 27 rebounds in one game (that currently ranks second
best).
In his second season in 1959-60, Jackson earned consensus
All-America honors and led St. John's with a 21.2 ppg scoring
average, surpassing the 1,000-point plateau, while averaging 12.9
rebounds per game as well.
In his senior year, Jackson was the recipient of All-America
accolades and won the Haggerty Award, which is given to the best
collegiate basketball player in the Metropolitan area. Jackson
averaged 22.0 ppg that year.
Jackson was drafted with the first pick in the third round of
the 1961 NBA Draft by the New York Knickerbockers. In 1968, he
joined the ABA's New Jersey Americans, where he scored 19.4 ppg. In
1969, Jackson played for three ABA teams: the Houston Mavericks,
the Minnesota Pipers and the New York Nets. He finished his ABA
career with a 15.9 scoring average.