From the day she was born, she was meant to be a star. Even her birth certificate says so: Starkisha Denise Jackson. Fortunately for the Saint Louis University women’s basketball team, she’s their star.
Growing up, Jackson loved to play all sports with anyone she could find that would play with her. But growing up, she realized basketball was what she wanted to play.
“I chose basketball because when I was a little kid, I wanted to play football, but my mom wouldn’t have that. I was such a tomboy. So I started playing basketball because it was what I could play with my dad,” Jackson said.
And now she does it as the starting point guard for the Billikens. The senior communication major chose Saint Louis University after dominating her senior year of high school in Texas. She was also recruited to play for Rice University and the University of Texas at San Antonio, but chose to come to SLU because of the coaching staff and because of the University’s reputation.
As a freshman, Jackson did not see much action, as she only appeared in 12 games and had six points, 5 assists and 9 steals. While these were not necessarily spectacular numbers, she was able to gain experience to help her for the rest of her college career.
Entering her sophomore season she was looking to make her move into the starting line-up. Jackson got the call in the first game of the 2000-2001 season as the starting point guard and went on to start all 28 games that year. Following the season she was voted as the team’s most improved player and was also named to Conference USA’s Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll. These accomplishments demonstrated Jackson’s commitment to being a student athlete and showed that she was talented on and off the court.
Following that breakthrough season the year before, Jackson was poised to continue her improvement during her junior season. Jackson again started every game, and also led the team in minutes played with 943. She earned the “Unsung Heroine” award as being one of the most important players on the team while not necessarily drawing all the attention. Jackson set a school record by making all 12 free throws against South Florida, and also established career highs in points, assists and steals. But those achievements in Jackson’s mind, can always be improved upon and that’s what she looks to do in the 2002-2003 season.
Jackson is entering her third season as the starting point guard on a very talented women’s basketball team. She has continually exhibited the qualities that make a good leader, especially as a point guard. However, she knows that she has room for improvement.
“Wisdom is what I’m trying to improve on. As a point guard you need to know how to approach everyone. I kind of have to bridge the gap between the coaches and the players,” Jackson said.
In addition to mediating between coaches and teammates as the team’s leader, Jackson strives to accomplish even more before leaving SLU next spring.
“I look most forward to seeing the team reach its full potential–whatever that may be,” Jackson said. “This is the last opportunity for us 14 girls to accomplish what we know we can.”
This year Jackson has an excellent chance to move into the top 5 on the career assists list, as well as break many of her career highs, which she has done several times over the last three seasons.
While breaking records and moving up on all-time lists is important to Jackson, he most memorable moment at SLU came last year in the Conference USA Tournament. With the Bills taking on Marquette, a team that they hadn’t beaten in an astonishing 27 meetings, they knew they had their work cut out for them trying to move on to play the number one seed in the tournament, Texas Christian University. The Billikens pulled out a 43-40 victory to end the nearly 30-game winless streak against the Golden Eagles.
“Beating Marquette in the first round last year was such a big moment because we hadn’t beaten them in forever,” Jackson said.
Ah, forever … a term SLU women’s basketball fans wish they could use to define the tenure Jackson would play in the Bauman-Eberhardt Center wearing her number 25 jersey. But even as she enters into her final season as a Billiken, Jackson doesn’t want to be remembered for statistics or her career highs, but as a team player who made the game fun for her teammates.
“I want my teammates to be able to say, ‘I enjoyed playing with Star,'” Jackson said.
