A Journey of Self-Discovery

Jackson Watkins was just a kid, maybe six or seven years old, shooting on one of those portable, less-than-regulation-height baskets anchored by a base filled with sand.

It was a cool thing to do, he thought, and he reveled in the opportunity to throw up shot after shot on that paved stretch that looped off the street at his mom Jeanette Tyson’s home in Austin, TX.

There was just one problem. The house sat on a steep incline. 

“If I missed badly,” the 2019 Collegiate graduate recalled, “the ball would bounce all the way down that hill, and I had to spend multiple minutes chasing after it. That’s where I learned to shoot. Or learned to not miss.”

He laughs when he recounts the story, for he’s come a very long way and launched a ton of shots (and done pretty much everything else on the basketball court) since that humble beginning.

That said, basketball wasn’t always his athletic priority.

“At that point in my life, I really loved baseball,” he said. “I’d beg my mom to stay awake and watch the games (on television). I’d have a ping-pong ball and my baseball glove, and I’d throw the ball at the bottom of the TV stand and have it fly right back at me, and I’d make diving catches. All my attention was going toward baseball. Basketball was my fun hobby. That totally changed when I got to Richmond.”

Before second grade, Jackson and his twin sister Maddy moved to Richmond with their mother and enrolled at Mary Munford School, where he spent recess and after-school time playing knock-out and pick-up games.

Though he was still playing baseball in the Richmond Little League, his interest was waning. 

“Baseball had become slower to me,” he said. “Kids aren’t hitting every single pitch. You’re not active every single play unless you’re the pitcher or catcher. Basketball was a more dynamic sport. You have physiques of all sizes, all speeds, all heights. The quicker pace and the back-and-forth were a lot more attractive to me as I got older and the competition increased.”

In the ensuing years, Jackson played basketball on teams at the Humphrey Calder Recreation Center and in the Upwards Rising Stars program and also trained under the guidance of Matt Murrer, who was recently named head coach at Benedictine.

After he and Maddy transferred to Collegiate in 5th grade, he availed himself of the Cougar Paws program, then Cub in seventh and eighth, JV in 9th, and varsity for three years, the last two as a starter at either the point or two-guard spot.

He played, too, in the Team Richmond AAU program under Collegiate coach Del Harris and as a junior competed for Murrer’s Team22 squad.

His senior year at Collegiate, Jackson averaged 10 points per game, distributed the ball regularly to standout inside players Robbie Beran, Jack Wyatt, and Cody Patterson, earned All-Prep honors, and helped the Cougars win the Times-Dispatch Invitational Tournament and finish in a tie for the league title.

“Our program motto is ‘Culture Wins,’” Harris said. “Jackson has stayed true to the culture. He’s selfless. He’s always working hard. He’s passionate. He has a love for the game in his heart. A lot of people say that in words. He lives it.” 

Regardless of the venue, level of competition, or intensity of the moment, Jackson has remained the same eager, enthusiastic, wide-eyed kid that he was back in Austin when he was gleefully putting up shots in the anonymity of the driveway. He has an anything-it-takes commitment to excellence. He’s become the ultimate team guy.

Now, though, his court of choice isn’t some outdoor slap or high school gym.

It’s the Dean E. Smith Center – the Dean Dome – home of the University of North Carolina Tar Heels.

After playing on Carolina’s JV as well as the scout team that prepares the women’s squad for competition, Jackson, who’s a junior, has earned a spot on the varsity roster as a walk-on.

“I’m really excited about the addition of Jackson and Rob (Landry, another walk-on),” said Tar Heels’ first-year coach Hubert Davis at a press conference Wednesday. “They’re great players and great kids. Their ability to help us in practice has been absolutely outstanding. I can’t tell you how excited I am for them to be on the team. They’re great to be around every day.”

For Jackson, a 6-0, 170-pound guard, making the UNC roster might seem a Rudy-like stretch. He had offers from several Division III signatories. All would provide the strong academics that he sought as well as a clearer path to continuing his basketball career.

“My college process was sort of a two-lane road,” he said. “On one lane, I had the allure of going to a big university. I was really attracted to that because Collegiate is a smaller school and I wanted to experience a huge university. On the other hand, I did realize that with that big DI path, I would probably be sacrificing competitive basketball.
    
“Coach Harris definitely helped me through the process. It was a tough decision. At the end of the day, I think it was legacy. My mom went to UNC. A lot of my extended family are in North Carolina. I’d grown up a UNC fan, my room was painted Carolina blue, I had (UNC basketball) posters, jerseys, and t-shirts. I realized this was my calling. It just seemed right.”

His freshman year on the JV, he averaged 13 points per game.

“We tipped off three hours before the varsity tipped off,” he said. “Every time we went out to warm up, I remember thinking, This is awesome. I’m getting to play in the Dean Dome, on this floor, with ‘Carolina’ on my chest. It was a surreal experience.”

Then, Covid changed everything. Well, almost everything, except Jackson’s dedication, zeal for the game, desire to return to some semblance of hoops normalcy, and bucket-list hope of one day making the varsity roster. He bided his time in Richmond, worked out on his own, played pickup when he could, and, when the world opened up a bit, coached in Murrer’s youth program.

Back in Chapel Hill last fall, he rejoined the scout team and planned to continue this year. Then came an announcement in early October for open varsity tryouts.  He jumped at the opportunity, put heart and soul into the effort, and learned of his promotion after practice October 19. 

Along the way, he received considerable support and encouragement from Armando Bacot, a rival when he starred for Trinity Episcopal and now a UNC teammate. 

“We’ve known each other for a while,” Bacot said, “and I knew he wanted to try to make varsity. We talked, and I gave him a little advice that might help his chances. He must’ve done it, because he made the team. It’ll be good to have another Richmond guy on the team.”

Besides a uniform – Jackson will wear No. 30 – there’s no guarantee of playing time. Nevertheless, he’s living his dream and happy to pitch in as needed, make his teammates better, and absorb the ambiance of a storied program.

“Throughout this process,” he said, “I’ve done a lot of self-reflection. When I initially got the call to try out, I was thinking, What am I getting myself into? These guys are levels above me. They’re quicker. They’re stronger. They’re faster. During that tryout period, there was definitely self-doubt. There was negative self-talk. I kept asking myself, What am I doing here?

“Looking back, you really don’t get anywhere in life by being comfortable. By having those thoughts, it shows that I cared deeply about what I was doing. And so for anyone out there who’s hearing this story, dreaming big about your passions will lead you to experiences that you could never have imagined. Not everyone gets to live out their dream, but if you really believe in yourself and have the drive, energy, and passion to pursue it relentlessly, anything is possible.”

Friday night, the Tar Heels play an exhibition against Elizabeth City State. It will be Jackson’s first opportunity to run through the tunnel onto the Dean Dome floor, warm up, and play any role asked of him as a member of the UNC men’s basketball team.

“It’s a blessing,” he said. “It’s an honor just to put on the practice uniform and walk on at the school I dreamed about growing up. Michael Jordan, the GOAT, went here. Just playing in the same program that some of the all-time greats went through, getting to experience what it means to be a Carolina basketball player, and just walking out on that hardwood every day is something to be incredibly grateful for.”
~Weldon Bradshaw