Frank Jackson (basketball)


Franklin Willis Jackson is an American professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association. He played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils.

High school career

Freshman & Sophomore season's

Franklin attended Lehi High School in Lehi, Utah as a freshman before transferring to Lone Peak High School in Highland, Utah as a sophomore. As a sophomore in 2014, Jackson averaged 17.9 points a game and helped his team, along with 4-star future BYU recruit TJ Haws, win the Utah 5A state championship.

Junior season

As a junior, he averaged 26.9 points per game, 4.5 rebounds per game, and 2.0 steals earning Fourth-team Maxpreps All-American, Salt Lake Tribune All-state honors and First Team All USA Utah selection. During the 2015 summer, Jackson participated in the NBPA Top 100 Camp in Virginia. In August 2015, Jackson then was invited play in the Under Armour Elite 24 in New York City where he performed extremely well and out-shined the competition, scoring 20 points earning Co-MVP honors, including recording an in-game, 360-degree fastbreak dunk that was much-talked about and replayed throughout the televised broadcast. More Highlights of his junior season include a 54-point outing on December 18, 2014, against Clark County in the Jerry Tarkanian Classic setting a Lone Peak Record in points. Jackson averaged 24 points and 2.7 assists in 10 games on the Adidas Uprising Gauntlet circuit with his AAU team, the Utah Prospects. His AAU coach called Jackson "more skilled at this age than what Russell Westbrook was.

Senior season

On December 12, Jackson scored 38 points in a 73–71 win over Miller Grove. On January 12, 2016, Jackson scored 49 points and 9 rebounds in a 94–92 overtime loss against Kobi Simmons and St. Francis School at the 2016 HoopHall Classic. On February 5, Jackson scored 32 points and 11 rebounds in a 68–61 win over St. Joseph.
As a senior, he averaged 28.1 points per game, 6.4 rebounds per game, and 3.0 assist per game while being named Utah Mr. Basketball, Salt Lake Tribune player of the year. Jackson was named a McDonald's All-American in January 2016, and competed in both the Powerade Jam Fest, where he won the Slam Dunk Competition, and in the All-Star game on March 30, 2016, at the United Center in Chicago, IL, scoring 19 points en route to earning Co-MVP honors alongside teammate Josh Jackson, who also had 19 for the victorious West team In April, Jackson was selected to play at the 2016 Jordan Brand Classic.
Jackson was rated as a five-star recruit and ranked as the No. 10 overall recruit by ESPN, as well as the No.12 recruit by Scout.com in the Class of 2016.

Recruiting

Jackson was recruited by Duke, Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, Maryland, Stanford, UCLA, and Utah. He originally committed to BYU as a freshman but backed out after receiving interest from other schools. On September 1, 2015, Jackson committed to Duke University.

College career

On November 11, in his Duke debut, Jackson scored 18 points and 4 assist in a 94–49 win against Marist at the 2016 Hall of Fame Tip Off. On November 12, Jackson put up 22 points and 4 rebounds in a 96–61 victory over Grand Canyon. On November 23, the Blue Devils defeated William & Mary 88-67 behind Jackson's 19 points. On January 4, he scored 15 points and 4 assist in a 110-57 blowout win against Georgia Tech. On February 28, Jackson scored a season-high 22 points while shooting 3-4 from deep range in a 75–70 victory over Florida State. On March 8, Jackson tallied 20 points while shooting 7-10 from the field in a 79–72 win against Clemson On March 10, Jackson scored 15 points and grabbed 5 rebounds in a 93–83 win over rival North Carolina in the semi-finals of the ACC Tournament. In his only season at Duke, Jackson started 16 of 36 games and averaged 10.9 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists and shot 40 percent from behind the arc and 54 percent on 2-point shots.
On May 12, 2017, he announced that he was signing with an agent, forgoing his three remaining collegiate seasons.

Professional career

New Orleans Pelicans (2017–present)

On June 22, 2017, Jackson was drafted 31st overall by the Charlotte Hornets but was quickly traded to the New Orleans Pelicans for cash considerations. On July 11, 2017, Jackson signed with the Pelicans. After the draft he underwent foot surgery and was ruled out until January but, in January, Jackson underwent a second surgery on his foot and was ruled out for the remainder of the season.
Jackson made his summer league debut on July 6, 2018 where he recorded 13 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal but early in the Second Half Jackson suffered a left ankle sprain and was ruled for out the rest of the Tournament.
Jackson made his NBA debut on October 17, 2018 in the Pelicans Season opener against the Houston Rockets recording 2 minutes off the bench, the Pelicans went on to win 131–112.
On January 7, 2019, Jackson tallied a then career-high 17 points and drained three three-pointers against the Memphis Grizzlies in only 19 minutes off the bench. The Pelicans came out victorious in that game winning 114–95.
On February 2, 2019, Jackson topped his previous career-high with 25 points on 10-20 shooting in a 113–108 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

2019–20 season

On November 1, 2019, Jackson scored 21 points in a 122–107 win against the Denver Nuggets. On November 14, 2019, Jackson tallied 23 points and 2 assist in a 132–127 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

College

Personal life

Jackson is the son of former Utah state senator Al Jackson, and the second-oldest of five children.
Jackson is a Republican and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has also lived in Oregon and the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., where his father worked as a lobbyist for the aerospace industry.
Jackson's father is African American and his mother, Juleen, is European American and was born and raised in Utah.