BIO: Cedric Jackson was born in Alamogordo, New México (USA). As a high school freshman living in Medical Lake, Washington, Jackson attended Medical Lake High School in 2000/01, where he steered the Cardinals to within a point of a trip to the state tournament.

He was enrolled as a sophomore at Ferris High before his Air Force-obligated family moved east.

Jackson subsequently enrolled at Northern Burlington County Regional High School in Columbus, New Jersey. He was a first-team all-state selection his senior year among other selections and averaged 26 points per game.

Jackson is most remembered for his time spent with the New Zealand Breakers. Over four seasons with the Breakers, he guided the club to four grand final appearances and three championships. He was crowned the NBL’s Most Valuable Player in 2013, garnered Grand Final MVP honours in 2013 and 2015, and was named to the All-NBL First Team in 2012, 2013 and 2015.

He led the NBL in assists in each of his four seasons with the Breakers, becoming the only player in NBL history to lead the league in assists in his first four seasons in the league.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Cedric Jackson made his NBL debut with the New Zealand Breakers at 25 years of age. He scored 11 points in his first game.

After winning their first NBL championship, the Breakers suffered two major losses, the first being leading scorer Kirk Penney’s decision to play in Europe and a off-seasonAchilles injury to Kevin Braswell that saw him still unable to play at the beginning of the 2011/12 season. Coach Andrej Lemanis would replace him with Cedric Jackson and then finalised their roster by adding Daryl Corletto, who the Melbourne Tigers had just released to make room for NBA star Patty Mills.

Jackson (12.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 6.5 assists, and 2.2 steals) would lead the league in both assists and steals and ensure the Breakers didn’t skip a beat as the defending champs. Gary Wilkinson (16.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.2 assists) and Thomas Abercrombie (15.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists) both boosting their offensive output in the absence of Penney, propelling New Zealand to a first-place finish (21-7) for the second consecutive season.

New Zealand would meet Townsville in the semifinals where they would lose the opening contest (82-99) behind big games from Crocodiles stars Peter Crawford (26 points) and Eddie Gill (21 points and 4 steals).

The Breakers re-grouped with CJ Bruton (18 points) top scoring in a game two win (94-83) that saw five New Zealand players all score in double figures. Bruton (20 points) continued to lead the way offensively in game three (97-80), winning the series for New Zealand and propelling them into the Grand Final.

New Zealand would go on to face Perth, winning the opening game in a overtime victory at home (104–98). Bruton (20 points and 3 assists) and Jackson (25 points and 8 assists) finished as the Breakers top scorers.

Despite Wilkinson (28 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists) delivering his best game of the season, the Wildcats would rebound from the loss and claim a narrow victory in their second meeting (87-86). Jesse Wagstaff (15 points) and Kevin Lisch (15 points and 5 rebounds) led the way for Perth, while six other Wildcats players also scored in double figures. This set up a third game back in Auckland, where the Wildcat’s built up a slight lead in the second quarter through some brilliant play from Matthew Knight (17 points and 6 rebounds), who had 11 points in the quarter. With centre Luke Nevill (4 points and 3 rebounds in 9 mins) getting into foul trouble and the Breakers defence all but neutralising Shawn Redhage (18 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists), the Breakers clinched back-to-back titles with a six-point victory (79–73) in front of 9,000 fans.

After Perth levelled the score with seven minutes to go, Abercrombie (12 points and 4 rebounds) pulled in a offensive rebound and set up Bruton (16 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals), who nailed a three-point dagger to extend the lead to seven with less than two minutes to play. Gary Wilkinson (23 points) led all scorers, while Alex Pledger (13 points on 4-of-6 shooting) made huge contributions from the bench. The Breakers became the first side to win consecutive titles since Sydney in 2002-2005, a championship team that Bruton was also a part of. Bruton finished 4-of-7 from downtown and was awarded the Larry Sengstock Medal for the Most Valuable Player of the series.

This season, Lemanis was recognised as Coach of the Year, Jackson and Abercrombie were selected to the All-NBL First Team, and Wilkinson gained All-NBL Second Team recognition as well. Jackson was also voted as the Breakers club MVP and finished fourth in the NBL MVP voting.

2012/13
In 2012, the Breakers looked to become the second team in league history to record a three-peat. While Cedric Jackson, Leon Henry, Thomas Abercrombie, Dillon Boucher, Mika Vukona, CJ Bruton, and Daryl Corletto all re-signed, a major decision made this off-season was to not re-sign leading scorer Gary Wilkinson (to Europe) in favour of elevating promising Kiwi centre Alex Pledger into the starting lineup. Import forward Will Hudson (via Gold Coast) signed as his replacement, while Corey Webster, who had sat out the previous season due to a 12-month suspension for the use of banned substances.

The Breakers recorded a number of historic moments this season, beginning with Jackson recording his first career triple-double with 28 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against the Melbourne Tigers (November 30, 2012). It was only the second triple-double recorded since the NBL went to 40-minute games at the start of the 2009/10 season.

By February, the Breakers extended their longest winning streak record to 11, Jackson picking up Player of the Week for Round 17 (his fourth NBL weekly award that season) and by mid-March had extended that to fifteen straight games.

New Zealand (24-4) finished on top of the ladder for a second consecutive season with Jackson (14.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 6.8 assists, and 2.8 steals) leading the league in assists and steals for the second straight season. Jackson was a obvious choice for the league’s Most Valuable Player and was also selected to the All-NBL First Team for the second consecutive season. Mika Vukona and Thomas Abercrombie were selected to the All-NBL Second and Third team’s, respectively, and Andrej Lemanis was voted the Coach of the Year.

New Zealand faced Sydney in the semifinals and swiftly eliminated them in two games. Abercrombie (15 points and 3 rebounds) and Jackson (11 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals) leading the Breakers in game one (81-64) and Bruton (21 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists) and Pledger (18 points and 12 rebounds) taking charge in game two (99-88). New Zealand progressed to the Grand Final series, where they would face off against Perth in a Grand Final re-match of the previous year. The Wildcats entered the series shorthanded, having lost starting guard Damian Martin to a Achilles injury prior to the playoffs. Brad Robbins came out of retirement to cover the loss, but with the team missing Martin, the Breakers defeated Perth easily in two straight games. Game one (79-67) saw Corletto (19 points on 7-10 shooting) catch fire and in game two (70-66), the Breakers were led by Bruton (16 points) and Jackson (14 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals). Jackson was subsequently named Grand Final MVP as the team delivered a historic three-peat win.

2014/15 – A RETURN TO NEW ZEALAND
After spending a year in Europe, Jackson signed a two-year deal with the New Zealand Breakers, returning to the club for a second stint on July 17, 2014. The Breakers were coming off a dismal season the year prior, where the team missed out on the NBL playoffs despite having won the previous two seasons in a row with Jackson en tow.

New Zealand regrouped by replacing imports Kerron Johnson and Gary Wilkinson with Jackson and big man Ekene Ibekwe.

This season saw the exits of CJ Bruton (retired) and Daryl Corletto (to Melbourne) and replaced with Rhys Carter (via Adelaide) and Tai Wesley, who qualified as a local player due to being born in Guam under the league’s Asian player rule.

The Breakers kickstarted the season with back-to-back wins over Perth and Adelaide before suffering back-to-back losses to Cairns and Melbourne. In what was a highly competitive season, New Zealand was able to reel off multiple five game winning streaks behind the offensive talent of both Jackson (14.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.2 steals) and Corey Webster (15.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists), who moved into the starting lineup and become one of the league’s premier scorers.

Jackson earned Player of the Week honours for Round 10, and on January 18, 2015, Jackson recorded his second career triple-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in a 88–75 win over Melbourne United. He then recorded his third career triple-double came on February 12 in a loss to the Adelaide 36ers, with 11 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. Following his 22 points and game-winner against the Perth Wildcats on February 15, he was named Player of the Week for Round 19.

It was also during this season Jackson nailed one of the greatest buzzer-beaters in NBL history. The Breakers had travelled to Perth to face their bitter rivals, who combined to win 10 of the 11 titles from 2010-2020, in a late-season marquee matchup. They were tied at 68-68 at the end of regulation and then at 80-80 after the first overtime. Perth looked set to win after taking a 87-86 lead with a couple of Jermaine Beal free throws with two seconds remaining. With no timeouts left, the Breakers inbounded to Jackson, who took three dribbles and launched a missile from just outside his own three-point line. The ball cannoned into the backboard and straight into the bottom of the net.

For the third time in three seasons, Jackson earned All-NBL first-team honours and led the league in assists (6.0) per game as the Breakers battled all season long for top spot alongside Perth and Cairns, eventually finishing in second place (19–9).

in the semifinals, New Zealand would face third-placed Adelaide, who had won their final ten regular season games and entered the playoffs as the hottest team in the competition. Despite the 36ers’ hot form, the Breakers made light work of them in game one (111–82), with Webster (24 points) delivering a career-high scoring effort at Vector Arena. Game two then moved to Adelaide, where they again had the upper hand the entire game, defeating the 36ers (94–83) and moving on to the Grand Final.

There, they met the Cairns Taipans, who had become the first regional centre team to win the minor premiership since the Geelong Cats did so in 1984. Despite Cairns having home-court advantage, New Zealand easily claimed game one (86–71), with Jackson (22 points) top scoring. Game two shifted to Auckland, where after a tight contest the entire game, Taipans guard Scottie Wilbekin tied the game behind two free throws with 1.2 seconds left in regulation. Coming out of a timeout, Ibekwe caught a inbounds pass, turned and hit a game-winning fade-away shot to lift the Breakers over the Taipans (83–81) and clinch New Zealand’s fourth title in five seasons. Jackson was subsequently named Grand Final MVP for the second time in his career after adding to his 22 points in game one with 15 points in game two. Jackson claimed his third championship and second Grand Final MVP award, becoming the first player in NBL history to win three NBL championships from his first three seasons.

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2015/16
The Breakers retained every player from their 2015 championship-winning roster minus Rhys Carter (to Sydney) and Ekene Ibekwe (to Europe). To replace the pair, the club picked up Australian point guard Shane McDonald and rookie American big man Charles Jackson. New Zealand’s pre-season was met with a number of challenges which included Alex Pledger being absent due to recovering from off-season foot surgery, Thomas Abercrombie being forced to the sidelines with a nagging hamstring strain and the exit of Corey Webster, who headed to the US to trial with the New Orleans Pelicans. In a move to replace them, the Breakers elevated development players Shea Ili and Tai Wynyard, while also signing Everard Bartlett as a replacement for Webster.

New Zealand were handed a shock loss to Adelaide in their season opener (71-90). Without Webster, Abercrombie and Pledger, the Breakers had limited scoring options, the highest scorer being Cedric Jackson (14 points). At half-time, the score was 51–26 in the 36ers favour, which saw the team’s 26 points become the second lowest first-half score and second biggest halftime deficit in team history.

The Breakers next game was also Cedric Jackson’s 99th NBL appearance, where he recorded his fourth career triple-double. Jackson (14 points, 10 rebounds, and 14 assists) also racked up a career high in assists with New Zealand defeating Townsville (89–81). Jackson (12.9 points, 6.0 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game) garnered 77 wins over his first 99 games in the NBL (77.7%), a mark that ranks first in NBL history. Funnily enough, in his 100th game played just three days later, New Zealand were blown out by Illawarra (96–75) with former Breakers star Kirk Penney (36 points) doing most of the damage for the Hawks. In that game Jackson had a career-worst performance, failing to make a field goal (0-of-7 from the field, 0-of-3 from three-point range, and 1-of-5 from the free throw line) in 28 minutes of action.

With a dwindling record (1-3), New Zealand were boosted by the addition of Corey Webster (19.6 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 2.3 assists), who returned after failing to secure a roster spot with the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans. In order to add Webster to the roster, forward Duane Bailey was released and Everard Bartlett, who had been signed as an injury replacement, was retained for the rest of the season.

On November 8, Jackson (16 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists) recorded his fifth career triple-double in a loss to Melbourne but saw his numbers dip in the coming months as he battled through both a toe and Achilles heel injury from November to January. Once healthy, Jackson (31 points, 10 rebounds and six assists) responded with a season-high in points, including seven made three-pointers in a win Adelaide (106–84). Jackson became the first NBL player to record such stats since John Rillie did in 1998, and his monster performance in the win over the 36ers allowed New Zealand to stay amongst those in the playoff hunt.

Over the course of the season, The Breakers rode a roller-coaster for the remainder of their games, winning nine of their next eleven games and reclaiming their roles as title favourites by Round 10 (10-5), only to losing five of their next six games (11-10) and were pushed out of the top four by Adelaide (11–9) and by Round 15. In January, New Zealand reeled off a five game losing streak (0-5), the team’s worst losing streak since the 2008/09 season and then finished the season on a five game winning streak, edging out the 36ers to finish fourth (16–12) and claim the final playoff berth.

New Zealand went on to sweep ladder leaders Melbourne in the semifinals (2–0) and moved on to their fifth NBL Grand Final appearance in six years.

Again we would see a New Zealand v Perth Grand Final, where this time, the Wildcats would rely on the presence inside of Nathan Jawai and the tough defence of Casey Prather to take home victory in game one (82–76).

Game two was played in Auckland where the Breakers evened the series (1-1) thanks to a near triple-double from Jackson (13 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists) that propelled them to the win (72–68).

With the deciding game in Perth, 13,090 of the ‘Red Army’ were in attendance and the Wildcats’ made sure to avenge their grand final loss from last year. Casey Prather (19 points) and Jermaine Beal (14 points) did most of the damage on the scoreboard for the Wildcats, but it was Damian Martin’s inspirational display in defence that shone the brightest. Martin would be named Grand Final MVP after keeping Jackson scoreless on five attempts and forcing him to foul out early in the last term. The Wildcats would go on to claim their seventh NBL championship in a blow-out victory (75–52).

The loss marked the first time New Zealand had lost to the Wildcat’s in playoff history and the team’s first ever grand final series loss.

MELBOURNE UNITED
2016/17
With the league allowing three import players per team this season, Melbourne replaced import duo Stephen Holt and Hakim Warrick with Devin Williams, Ramone Moore and Jackson signing a two-year deal. They essentially signed a fourth import by then adding Tai Wesley (via New Zealand) who was allowed to sign as a local under the asian player rule and swapped one Boomers big man for another with David Anderson (via Europe) replacing Daniel Kickert (to Sydney).

Jackson made his debut for United in their season opener on October 7, recording 14 points, 13 rebounds and six assists in a loss to New Zealand (71–76).

In coach Dean Demopoulos second season, United started poorly (3-7) and Jackson (10.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and 1.4 steals) quickly being shown the door due to a poor attitude and failing to buy into the team’s defensive principals. Despite being released so early in the season, Jackson’s finished as the statistical leader for assisst per game at the end of the season.

Casper Ware arrived as his replacement shortly after, immediately changing the squad’s direction.

Around this time, Chris Goulding (17.0 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.0 steals), who missed six games with ankle issues, began to find his form, and David Barlow (5.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists), returned from a calf injury that had seen him unable to take the court at all for the past two years.

Behind Ware (22.1 points, 4.5 assists, and 1.3 steals) and a healthy roster, United turned things around, winning 10 of their last 18 games.

With the team still capable of reaching the playoffs, Devin Williams (3.2 points and 4.0 rebounds), who surprisingly lasted 16 games before being cut after media and fans pointed out his lack of production and called for an import change for most of the season. With a third of the season remaining, Josh Boone (10.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks) arrived and quickly went to work cleaning up Ware and Goulding’s missed shots and finished as the league’s best rebounder.

In Demopoulos’ second year as head coach, he would struggle managing player relationships, and by the end of the season, it was public knowledge his relationship with certain players wasn’t ‘civil’. A divide between the veterans of the team and the ever-competitive Demopoulos would result in seeing United unable to replicate the success from the previous season, finishing in sixth-place finish (13-15) and both parties moving on at the end of the season.

ILLAWARRA HAWKS
2018/19
After falling short of making the playoffs by only a few games in 2018, the Hawks lost several key players, including Demitrius Conger (to Serbia), Rotnei Clarke (to Greece), Nicholas Kay (to Perth), Delvon Johnson (to Slovakia), and Cody Ellis and Rhys Martin, who both retired. To strengthen their roster, Illawarra added Jordair Jett (via NZNBL), Brian Conklin (via France), David Andersen (via Melbourne), Cedric Jackson (via USA), and rookies Emmett Naar and Daniel Grida. The team also retained key players AJ Ogilvy, Tim Coenraad, Nic Pozoglou, and team captain Kevin White, aiming to build on their existing core.

Illawarra began the season with a dramatic quadruple-overtime thriller, narrowly losing to Melbourne (122–123). They followed this heartbreaking defeat with a heavy loss to Perth (101–61) but rebounded with a road win against Cairns (104–93). A brief two-game win streak later in October saw the Hawks secure victories against Brisbane (86–78) and Adelaide (120–109), momentarily seeing them sit in fifth place. However, inconsistency plagued the team, and they later endured a four-game losing streak in November, including defeats to Perth (90–81), Sydney (81–90), and Adelaide (104–79). Despite showing flashes of potential, the Hawks couldn’t maintain a consistent level of play, missing the playoffs with a 12-16 record.

Cedric Jackson (7.9 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.1 steals) provided a steady hand at the point guard position for the Hawks. His experience and leadership were invaluable, particularly in moments when the team needed guidance on the court. His standout performances included 16 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 steal against Perth (7 Dec 2018), 15 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 steal against Melbourne (15 Dec 2018), and 13 points, 10 assists, and 3 steals against Cairns (4 Feb 2019).

Illawarra head coach Rob Beveridge praised Jackson’s leadership and ability to make his teammates better, stating, “Cedric’s leadership on and off the court has been invaluable for us. He’s a true professional and has helped elevate the players around him.”

Alongside Jackson, Illawarra was led offensively by Brian Conklin (14.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists), Todd Blanchfield (13.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.9 assists), who earned the Hawks’ club MVP award, Jordair Jett (11.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.8 assists), and AJ Ogilvy (9.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks). Despite strong individual performances, the Hawks couldn’t maintain consistency and ultimately missed the playoffs in what was one of the most competitive NBL seasons.

Cedric Jackson played six seasons across three NBL teams. This included the New Zealand Breakers, Melbourne United and Illawarra Hawks. He averaged 12.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 5.8 assists in 166 NBL games.

CAREER RANKINGS:
– 28th in assists per game.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Dan Boyce (815 Posts)

Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.