Not many Lafayette College athletes can trace their roots to professional sports. For Shareef Jackson, the resemblance between him and his father is all but uncanny.
The freshman forward is the son of former NBA center Marc Jackson, who played seven seasons in the league from 2000 to 2007 alongside six years overseas. Shareef Jackson, who is averaging 10 points and five rebounds a game for the men’s basketball team, said he has “watched his father’s tape” to help navigate him through his first season as a starter.
“Our physical play style, we’re not jumping to the moon and back,” Shareef Jackson said. “But his way of playing in the NBA, where everybody is a high-flying, crazy athletic guy, definitely taught me how to play with guys like that.”
Shareef Jackson was introduced to basketball at a young age, frequently attending his father’s games. However, it was not until his high school years that he started taking the sport seriously.
“When I was 14, I locked in and realized I wanted this to be my future,” he said.
Both father and son hail from Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia, where Marc Jackson made a name for himself by recording 22 points and 18 rebounds in the team’s 1993 Philadelphia Catholic League championship win before playing collegiate basketball at Virginia Commonwealth University and Temple University.
Former Roman Catholic basketball coach and alum Chris McNesby, who was teammates with Marc Jackson for two years, said Jackson came to the school “out of shape” before “seeing him develop” in an 18-month span.
“I learned how hard of a worker he was — he was a kid who was not going to be denied,” McNesby said. “Him kind of taking everything on his own and just pushing and becoming the player and person that he became: he’s a true Philadelphia success story.”
When faced with the task of continuing his father’s legacy, Shareef Jackson said he did not feel “too much pressure.”
“Roman, basketball-wise, is a great school; they’re always expecting guys to be great,” Jackson said. “You know what your background is, just your skill and your ability to play.”
McNesby, who coached at Roman Catholic for 15 seasons, noticed striking similarities between the Jacksons in his first year coaching Shareef Jackson.
“Very early on as a freshman, Shareef was super skilled and had a very high IQ,” McNesby said. “He always could score around the basket and use his body like his dad.”
While the two connected instantly through their relationship with the elder Jackson, McNesby said Marc Jackson “stepped away” during his son’s tenure at Roman Catholic.
“He just let you coach, let you run the team,” McNesby said. “A guy who played at the highest level, just stay in the background. There’s a lot of other people that don’t do that.”
Shareef Jackson finished his Roman Catholic career with over 1,000 points and rebounds, leading the team to two Catholic League championships. Roman Catholic also made the state title game three times, including Jackson’s freshman year, where he recorded a double-double.
When it came time to move up to the collegiate level, Jackson committed to Lafayette because of “chance and opportunity.” Standing at 6-foot-8, Jackson’s low-post scoring ability allowed the Leopards to roll out a small-ball lineup.
“Being an undersized big comes with a lot of disadvantages, defensively and offensively,” Jackson said. “But it also comes with benefits as well, like being a little faster and having better leverage on bigger guys.”
McNesby has kept tabs on Jackson throughout his first two months of donning the Maroon and White, saying he’s “translating how I would have imagined.”
“He’s rebounding the ball, he’s setting good screens, he’s really good in pick and roll action with guards,” he said. “He has good skill around the basket; he can score at tough angles.”
While drawing inspiration from Marc Jackson’s playing career, his second career in basketball has also captivated Shareef Jackson’s attention. Marc Jackson currently works as a postgame analyst of the Philadelphia 76ers — where he previously played two seasons — for NBC Sports Philadelphia, influencing Shareef to consider the public relations aspect of basketball as a future career.
“The people who play basketball are a big deal, but there’s so much on the business side,” Shareef Jackson said. “I would really love to be a part of that.”