Lady Vols transfer and her mother talk hoops and life
Before Rickea Jackson played in her first basketball game, her mother had to literally talk the shoes off her older son’s feet.
“I remember our first game like it was yesterday,” Caryn Jackson said in an April phone interview. “I gave her a quick synopsis because she asked to play and they said, ‘Where are your shoes?’ And of course, she didn’t have any gym shoes. I asked my son Ryon to let her play in his shoes, and at first he was like, ‘No, these are my new LeBrons, they just came out.’ I was like, ‘I will buy you two pairs,’ so he gave them to her, and she played.”
Before Rickea Jackson chose to continue her college basketball career at Tennessee, the talented All-SEC player had boxes that needed to be checked – teammates, relationships and coaches.
“Do the teammates get along?” she said via phone interview. “If one person isn’t, per se, getting a lot of minutes, are they still cheering for the people who are on the floor? What is the bench looking like? Are you guys cheering for one another? How are your relationships off the court? Even if y’all aren’t the best of friends, are you guys still cordial? Are you going to work for each other on the court? So that really was number one, especially given what I went through at Mississippi State. It just wasn’t the best environment for a college athlete within a team.
“Number two was the coaches of course, the offense, the structure, the discipline of the team. That was high on my list too because I felt like I haven’t had a lot of structure. I mean, not to say I always need structure. I am of age where I don’t need someone to tell me what to do, but are you holding us accountable for things? So, I feel like those were the two high on my list. The others, of course, the coaches, the offense, the atmosphere, things like that.”
Jackson, who is from Detroit and played for three head coaches in three seasons at Mississippi State, entered the transfer portal last January while leading the SEC in scoring at 20.3 points per game. The internal dynamics of the team had reached the point where the junior forward realized it was time to depart Starkville.
“It was very hard for her because there were so many different variables and signs telling her to get out of there, but Rickea wanted to try and make it work,” said Caryn Jackson, whose first name is pronounced like cayenne pepper. “Sometimes, you can try to make the shoe fit, and it just doesn’t fit. Sometimes you can get your foot in the shoe, and it may be too tight, and you can wear it for a little bit, but you’re going to have to take that shoe off with some aches and pains. She had to take that shoe off because it was too tight. She tried to make it fit, and it just didn’t.”
Rickea Jackson and her mother visited Tennessee, Texas and LSU before selecting the Lady Vols on March 24 as her destination for the 2022-23 season. She will arrive in June for summer school and off-season workouts and will bring her two dogs, a Yorkipoo and a Maltese named Fendi and Venchy. The last Tennessee player to have a dog named Fendi was Candace Parker.
“I picked Tennessee because of the coaching staff and the players,” Jackson said. “I just definitely got a great vibe from the players when I took a visit that at the end of the day everyone has the same goal that they want to win. And off the court I saw how well they get along and that’s just something that I’ve been missing. So, to see that it really won my heart.
“And I got a great feel when I visited the school and I can see where they are trying to get to, and I’m trying to get there and help them get there as well. I was just like, oh, this is a perfect place for me.”
Jackson, a rising senior, has two years of eligibility remaining because of the pandemic year added by the NCAA – she said she will evaluate that situation when it arises – and she projects to be a first round pick in the WNBA in what may be the deepest draft class since Parker and crew departed Tennessee in 2008. The Lady Vols could have three first rounders in Jackson, Jordan Horston and Tamari Key.
been waiting to post this…its no better time then now ?? welcome to rocky top @iamthathooper @UTCoachSam pic.twitter.com/monBknRJhV— Jordan Horston ??? (@ladylynn22_) March 24, 2022
Jackson, who has three brothers – she is the third of four children – didn’t initially take to the sport. Her mother played collegiate basketball and also coached her kids, but the lone daughter had other interests.
“I didn’t start really playing basketball until about my sixth, seventh grade year in middle school,” she said. “Those are probably like my earliest memories of basketball because starting out I didn’t like basketball at all. My mom was a coach. My brother played, my other brother played, and I just felt like I was around it too much. So, I really did not like basketball at all. I thought it was an icky sport. I was like that’s for boys. I would rather go play with some dolls or something. But I’m solid now.”
Solid is an understatement. And once Jackson committed to basketball, her talent became readily apparent. Mother made sure her daughter understood the fundamentals, especially being capable of scoring with the left or right hand. Once the sister had secured her brother’s shoes, she got a quick lesson before taking the court.
“I told her, ‘Hey, look, you’ve got to shoot the ball on the right side with your right hand and on your left side with your left hand, or people are going to talk about you,” Caryn Jackson said. “And when the shot goes up, you’ve got to go get it. I stood on the court, and I said this right here, I showed her the lane, I said this is called the house. And when you are on defense, you have to protect the house, so no one can score in this room because that room is the safe and you don’t want them to put anything in your safe, so you have to protect it. So, you can’t let nobody shoot, and you’ve got to try to stop them from scoring down here.
“She was like, ‘OK,’ but I forgot to tell her when she got to the other end, that’s when she’s supposed to shoot. You know, so it was a little funny, but she picked it up really quickly. When she got the ball, she shot it on the left side with her left hand, although she couldn’t shoot with either hand. People didn’t understand why I was cheering so hard for her attempts. Although she was missing, it was because she was shooting it properly with her left hand on the left side and on the right side with the right hand. The first layup she ever made was with her left hand on the left side of the basket. For me, I knew that she was going to be great at the game of basketball.”
Rickea Jackson became the 2019 Michigan Player of the Year, All-Michigan first team and 2019 Michigan Miss Basketball.
A sisterhood of hoops. Former Miss Basketball winners @iamthathooper, @gabbyy5_ and @ballin_deedee35 show up to help @d1_ruby2 celebrate @DetroitEdisonGB 4th straight Miss Basketball winner. https://t.co/Ey2XFm32oy— Mick McCabe (@MickMcCabe1) March 15, 2022
Two boys arrived before Rickea Jackson joined the family – Rickey Jr. is now 27 and Ryon is 22 – followed by the one daughter and son Jordan, now 16. Caryn Jackson is grateful that one of her four children with Rickey Jackson Sr. turned out to be a girl. She was convinced her first child would be a daughter.
“My first pregnancy, I did not want to know what the sex of the baby was, and I picked out the name,” she said. “Their dad’s name is Rickey. And, so, I picked out the name Rickea and I had it spelled Raquia. The day that I had delivered my first child and it came out a girl, it was going to be Raquia. And that was it. Right? That’s the only name I had picked out.
“So, then it’s like, oh, congratulations, it’s a boy. Boy? No. Then he said, what’s the name? I don’t know. Not Raquia, huh? So, it was kind of like the running joke. Of course, he became junior. And then when I got pregnant with Ryon, I knew that he was a boy, and I spelled it uniquely because it means young king. And that’s actually who he is. That’s what he represents. I mean, he doesn’t know but his character is 100 percent spot on his name.
“The third time I said, I’m not picking out names, and I don’t want to know the sex of the baby or anything. You know, it is what it is. And then it happened to be a girl. And as soon as I looked her, I said, ‘Rickea Jackson, welcome, honey.’ And I ended up spelling her name with the ea. It was amazing to have a girl, at least one. God gave me one, not two, and I’m thankful for it.”
The daughter is now 21 years old and will don Lady Vol orange in the 2022-23 season, a decision that her mother supports, especially after a turbulent three seasons at Mississippi State. The coach who recruited her, Vic Schaefer, departed for Texas after Rickea Jackson’s freshman season. Former Lady Vol Nikki McCray-Penson coached the next season and stepped down for health reasons related to a prior battle with breast cancer. Doug Novak, a former Tennessee tennis player who had been the head coach of the men’s program at Bethel University before arriving at Mississippi State in September as an assistant on the women’s team, stepped in as interim head coach for Jackson’s junior season. Sam Purcell, an an assistant coach at Louisville since 2013, was hired in mid-March as the new head coach at Mississippi State.
10. Rickea Jackson (Mississippi State) @iamthathooper
Rickea Jackson is a PROBLEM. Rickea currently leads the SEC in scoring with 20.8 PPG. Not to mention that at 6’2 her length and athleticism make her a matchup nightmare. She is a future lottery pick.
?? @CourtsideFilms pic.twitter.com/sbVmJPY7LI
— The Committee (@The_Committee1) January 17, 2022
Despite the upheaval, Rickea Jackson stayed put in Starkville until January when internal conflict became too intense as outlined in a story that can be read HERE.
“My loyalty to Mississippi State, I feel like I committed there, I signed the papers, my teammates were still there,” Jackson said when asked why she didn’t depart sooner. “I came for my team. At the end of the day if the team is there and the coaches leave, the coach can’t play on the court for you. They just give you the offense and give you the defense, but we were going to work for each other but as the years went down, it just really started to not be the place for me each and every year.
“I really tried to stick it out as long as I could, but I felt like I finally just couldn’t do it anymore. Unfortunately, it was in the middle of a season but that’s how bad I really just couldn’t take it anymore.”
That time period was especially trying for Caryn Jackson, who was in Michigan more than 800 miles and a 12-hour drive away from her daughter.
“It was very stressful,” Caryn Jackson said. “It’s no secret that I wanted her out of there. I wanted her out of there after the first year, after the first coach, after the second coach. I wanted her out. It was getting worse. It was a huge distraction in my life, because as a mother, you’re only as happy as your saddest child. And not to say that Rickea was walking around sad or anything, but I knew that there were things that were happening, and she wouldn’t speak on it. But I had to be available for whatever it was that she needed.
“I drove down there often, and I would just go, no intentions of anything about basketball, but just to put my arms around, get some good laughter, go get our nails done. I would cook her dinner and lunch. It was just a hard situation. I just had to make sure that I was available. A lot of things I couldn’t do with my own life and move forward because their lives are so important to me, whatever I have to do, it’ll be on a back burner until I make sure that they’re squared away. So, her making that decision, I just was able to relax and let my hair down. And now I can focus on moving on with the company.”
Caryn Jackson is an entrepreneur and founder of Court Side Cutie, a consulting firm for parents whose children are in the pipeline to be recruited.
“I want to be an advisor for parents, for athletic parents, but I want to advise them young, when their kids are young,” she said. “I want to advise them before their children reach high school. And advise them on how to look at different ways and approach, because it’s a lifestyle, when your kid is becoming a superstar. It’s a lifestyle. And I think that if people get the cheat sheet for it, you’ll have more collegiate superstars than we have today.
“But sometimes when people don’t know, or you see a kid, wow, you didn’t make it. That’s because their support system just did not know how to get them to that next level or get them in a right situation. And I want to be that that olive branch for people. I use Court Side because parents, we sit on the court side, and we can talk, and that’s where you get your knowledge. Sometimes if you sit next to a parent who has knowledge and doesn’t speak about it, then it doesn’t help you. I just want to advise people and help them because I want to see these kids grow and prosper no matter who they play for or where they’re going.”
She also is involved in basketball because Jordan plays in high school and summer.
“When you have a kid that’s trying to become a collegiate athlete, you still have to coach if you’re sitting on a bench or if you’re on the opposite side,” Caryn Jackson said. “I sit on the opposite side. And I can be more hands on, just more direct with my kid. I’m not the parent that’s going to shout out and scream and stuff like that. But I’m going to give you a couple adjustments – use your legs, are you leaning forward or fading back, just the simple pointers. That’s me. As far as coaching a team, no, I’m actually officiating.”
Caryn Jackson is a basketball official for high school boys’ and girls’ varsity and junior college in the Michigan and Ohio areas. She also officiates boys’ high school football varsity and is attending camps to get ranked in collegiate football.
Mother and daughter took three recruiting trips in February and March with Knoxville the first stop followed by Austin, Texas, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
It was the second recruitment for the family, and mama told her daughter to take charge of it.
“The first one was more, for me, stressful because Rickea doesn’t like to talk on the phone,” Caryn Jackson said. “I had to make all the initial contact. The second time it was more so, ‘Hey, get on the phone.’ ”
Fortunately, Rickea Jackson had her checklist. She also already was familiar with Tennessee because the Lady Vols had been on her list when she was a high school senior, and Holly Warlick was the head coach. Jackson and Horston, who both were in the Class of 2019, took their official visit to Tennessee on the same weekend in the fall of 2018. Horston chose the Lady Vols, while Jackson picked Mississippi State. The two will play on the same court as seniors in college.
Now look at that! She was keeping your Jersey ready! #signs?? welcome to the Ladyvols family baby! Senior year in high school, you thought you would play together, senior year you will finish together ! This is big big time! ?? pic.twitter.com/hBqNugvkXn— Mali (@kei_anna01) March 24, 2022
The visit to Knoxville took place on the last weekend of the regular season and came a couple of days after Jasmine Powell, who also is from Michigan, visited Tennessee after deciding to transfer from Minnesota. The point guard also selected the Lady Vols in March in a story that can be read HERE.
“Jasmine and I pretty much grew up together,” Jackson said. “We played AAU basketball for Michigan Crossover together. Me and Jazz were in this best friend group when we were younger. We always called each other JR5L like that was our names and stuff. It was so funny now I think about it. We grew up really, really close. Our parents were really good friends.
“Of course, you grow up and get super busy. So, we haven’t been able to really connect on that level in these past couple of years because we’ve just been chasing our dreams. JR5L. Jasmine and Rickea for life. We put five L because it means more than four L.”
Part of the visit to Knoxville also included becoming familiar with the coaches, although Jackson already knew Samantha Williams, who had recruited Jackson and Horston when she was an assistant coach at Louisville. An important piece was to have in-person interaction with Head Coach Kellie Harper.
“Oh, for sure part of the visit was really get to know her, her get to know me,” Jackson said. “We spoke on the phone a couple of times but that’s nothing like being there in person, so it was great to start building a relationship with her, and it is getting better and better.”
Caryn Jackson also used the trip to connect with the staff from the point of view as a mother and a coach.
“The head coach is important, but your head coach is as strong as your weakest assistant coach,” she said. “So, if you have a strong weak assistant coach, just using that as a scenario, you’re stronger. They deliver really well. They know their jobs. They come naturally. Everything was in order, and it was easy to spend time with Kellie and chat with Kellie, just to kind of pick her brain. She picked my brain. She picked Rickea’s brain.
“The fact that she is a family woman is important because in my household, we say family over everything. When you see that from a person who could potentially be your head coach, you see her nurturing, she was able to see herself there. She liked that fit, so Tennessee was the choice for her.”
Caryn Jackson monitored who her daughter contacted, took the three trips and then let Rickea Jackson decide on her destination.
“What was important to her is that she did it right this time,” Caryn Jackson said. “I can honestly say that out of the three schools that she visited I really enjoyed each one. I like Vic Schaefer, that’s obvious, and I like Kim Mulkey. I had never met her before, but we talked. I know she’s misunderstood. Kim Mulkey is Kim Mulkey. She’s a very entertaining and interesting woman. But for my daughter what was right for her was Tennessee.
“Not taking anything away from the other schools, Tennessee was the closest to what she needed. It checks off more on her checklist. That’s what made it a good choice. I by not any means chose Tennessee. I let Rickea make her decision and of the three schools, if she had chosen one, I would have been OK. She had my blessings. But I definitely knew that I was going to take a stand if I needed to. We agreed on that. If I had to take a stand and say absolutely not to a school, that’s exactly what it was going to be, and I was prepared for that. But she did a great job, she minimized everything, she stuck to it, and she engaged with the coaches and the schools. We learned some things. We met new people, and it was very nice and very refreshing.”
Reach One Teach One ?? https://t.co/8eNSkjkLyh— Rickea’s Mom (@rickea5_jackson) March 14, 2022
Rickea Jackson had said yes to Schaefer out of high school but for her second recruitment she had to call him and say no.
“Honestly, truthfully, it really broke my heart,” she said. “Like, I really kind of cried when I had to tell him. I’m getting emotional even thinking about it right now. Because me and Vic, we have such a great relationship. And it truly broke my heart. I felt so terrible after that call. I was like it’s a business at the end of the day. You have to make the decision that’s best for you. Like nine times out of 10, I always put other people’s feelings over mine, but this year, I was just like, my feelings come first. I’m doing what’s best for me, what’s best for my future, where I can see myself truly fitting in at and that’s Tennessee.
“And, yeah, it crushed me. All the other calls, I was just like OK, but his call … my mama said, ‘Who are you going to call.’ I said, ‘Coach Schaefer, I’ve got to get his out of the way.’ I didn’t want to do it but the respect that I have for him like it was only right to do that, but man, it crushed me.”
She also remembered her mother’s shoe analogy and how it applied to her last stop in college basketball.
“I feel like it fits so well because of the pieces that Tennessee has,” Jackson said. “They have the guards, they have the shooters, they have a big, so I feel like we have all the pieces we need right now. Of course, we won’t really be able to see to see until we get on the court, but I just felt like I fit in well with what Tennessee is doing in the offense and my ability to be versatile. So, I feel like I fit in pretty well in those aspects.”
During her visit, Jackson talked to Harper about how the Lady Vols want to play next season, and the style appeals to Jackson, who is 6-2, agile and athletic.
“She wants to play faster,” Jackson said. “And I feel like with me and Jasmine coming in, we’re pretty quick guards, so I feel like we will be able to play that up tempo speed the whole game if we want to.”
Jackson appears closer to 6-3, but she said a recent doctor’s visit confirmed the 6-2 measurement. She also confirmed it with Horston, who is 6-2, during the Knoxville visit.
“But with shoes I guess you’d say I’m six, two and a half, six, three,” she said. “When I went on a visit me and Jordan, we went in the bathroom and we stood next to each other because I was just like, are we the same height, and we stood next to each other and we were literally the same exact height when we did shoulder to shoulder so yeah, we had we had a lot of debate about that because I was like I’m taller and was she like no you’re not. We’re literally the same height but I do have my hair more up than she does like in a bun or something.”
It was important to Jackson that she make her own decision out of high school and again in 2022. She knew her mother wanted her out of Starkville, but she also knew she would second guess any move if it wasn’t her call.
Rickea Jackson also didn’t want to repeat the full recruiting campaign, one she and nearly every recruit call overwhelming once it’s over.
“I did this process my senior year of high school, and I totally let it overwhelm me, I really just didn’t want to do it anymore,” she said. “I was like mom, ‘I don’t even want to go to college, no more and I just want to be done with this process,’ because it was so overwhelming but this time around I kind of knew what I was looking for. I’ve been in college for three years so it’s easier for me to be like, ‘OK, this is not a good fit, but this is an OK fit maybe., We’ll give them a try.’
“Take control of this, like you have the will, this situation, this process can go how you want it to go. So, when I sat down and talked to my mama about it, she helped me through it as well. So, I was in control, and I wasn’t going to let it overwhelm me this time around.”
That was Caryn Jackson’s intent, too, along with avoiding any situation she knew wouldn’t be good for her daughter.
“My importance in that decision was not to let her make a bad decision,” she said. “Before she contacted any coaches, I said give us a moment because it happened so suddenly for her. I wanted to think, so we had to talk and sit down and discuss what is it that you’re looking for because you know that time is against you. You have the opportunity to go to the league next year, or you have the opportunity to stay and do two years. It’s your choice.
“I told her before you say yes to the portal, let me get ready. Give me a moment to get myself together, so she waited before she gave the school permission to submit her name. About three minutes before she made that decision, I started getting phone calls from news reporters. She said, ‘Mom, I’m about to do it.’
“As soon as she hung up from me, she made that phone call and my phone, ‘Hello, Ms. Jackson, this is Vic Schaefer from the University of Texas.’ He was able to call me right away because my number hasn’t changed for 20 years now. I got a text message from Suzy Merchant (at Michigan State). It was bittersweet. When they’re recruiting you, some people you make a bond with and then once you make your decision now, you can no longer talk, you know. It was kind of cool, because I was able to connect back with some coaches that I previously known, so that was pretty cool.
All of that factored in to Rickea Jackson’s advice to players in the portal now and recruits still in high school.
“Don’t be scared of being uncomfortable,” she said. “I felt like that was one of the reasons, a big reason, as to why I stayed at Mississippi State for so long, even though there was so much going on with the program. I still stuck it out. I would of course sometimes be like, OK, maybe it’s time to go, but then I’ll be scared like, but what if – I always have what ifs – what if I have to start over or I have to do this. I have to do that. Be OK with being uncomfortable because you’re going to get used to that new environment, you’re going to fit if you work hard, your hard work is going to pay off. Be comfortable being uncomfortable.
“And my mom told me all these things that third year that I stayed in Mississippi State. She didn’t want me to stay and all in all, she was right, but I was so set on saying that nothing could change my mind because I’m like, ‘This is my school. This is my team. I can’t just leave like that. I started here. I want to finish here.’
“But for me to make that decision on my own, it’s easier for me to sleep at night, at least I made that decision. At least I went through it. I didn’t let no one else persuade me. If my mom was to say leave and then I go somewhere and be unhappy, then I’ll be like, ‘Oh, I knew I should’ve stayed.’ For me to sit there and make that decision, I have to live with that. And today I don’t have to live with someone else’s decision. I would definitely say just really be comfortable being uncomfortable and always keep God number one because he will get you through tough, tough times.
“People in the portal I would say go somewhere where you see fit, don’t just go somewhere because of the name, because of the colors. I pray that everyone finds a school for them. There’s a lot of people in the portal, it’s crazy. So, I would just say go where you see fit and look at the offense, make sure you fit in with the offense of the school. Look into those things.”
During the official visit to Tennessee, Caryn Jackson, already familiar with the SEC, watched the matchup between the Lady Vols and LSU, but her eyes took in a lot more than the game.
“A lot of people look at a lot of things that take place in between those 94 feet of the court, but it’s more so the things that happens off the court before you approach the court, after you leave the court, during practice, out of practice, in the training room,” she said. “That’s where the things really take place. On a court when the basketball is bouncing, what can you really see other than the fact who’s not boxing out, who’s not playing defense, who’s not communicating. But it’s the things that happen off the court that’s important, because if you had those situations where I don’t like you, you don’t like me, it brings something to the court that’s not good and healthy. But if you have a healthy situation off the court, then it makes everything on the court that much better. If I really like you and love you off the court, and I will go to work for you, no one can say anything.
“If we’re playing basketball and my point guard gets beat, I’m going to make sure that I told her, ‘I’m going to step up, I’m going to block a shot or I’m going to stop the ball and then my teammate behind me is going to step and cover my man, we’re all going to adjust’ – but that’s if you like each other and you have to have that type of defense off the basketball court as well in order to have a healthy program.
“That’s what I sense with Tennessee. They do have that healthy-type situation at Tennessee. We didn’t hear kids talking about I might go in the portal and that’s good when this portal is so open, that you don’t have kids talking about leaving. They’re saying, ‘Hey, we need you. Come on, let’s go. Let’s get this championship and that’s what you want.”
Caryn Jackson played basketball in Detroit in high school and college. She was a standout for Kansas before sustaining serious injuries in a car wreck and finished her career at Lansing Community College, where she won a national title in 1996.
Caryn Jackson was born February 26, 1973 in Detroit. She was an All-State basketball player at Murray-Wright. She played collegiately for the Kansas Jayhawks and at Lansing CC, winning a national championship in 1996. Her daughter is Rickea Jackson, Michigan Miss Basketball 2019. pic.twitter.com/wklz1fua36— Detroit Griot (@JustCallmeBHunt) February 27, 2020
“My mom has a big influence in my life because she’s been doing what she’s talking about,” Rickea Jackson said. “She’s been through the process. She played DI college basketball. So, she has a big influence on my life, but she lets me make my own decisions.”
One decision her mother had no control over was the removal of training wheels from her child’s bicycle.
“Ryon’s 15 months older than Rickea, and his dad took his training wheels off his bike,” Caryn Jackson said. “You would think they were like twins because everything they had was matching. So, he was riding up and down the street happy. Rickea still had hers on. So, the next morning I go outside, and I see the training wheels on the porch. So, I look down the street, and Rickea’s coming up the street saying, ‘Mommy look at me!’ She doesn’t have her knee pads, her helmet, she doesn’t have any training wheels on, and she’s riding her bike at 3.
“I said, ‘Hey, who took your training wheels off?’ And she said, ‘Ryon took them off for me. He taught me how to ride my bike.’ My 4-year-old taught my 3-year-old how to ride a bike. It was bananas.”
The basketball bond would come later since her daughter didn’t initially take to the court.
“She didn’t like gym shoes when she was younger,” Caryn Jackson said. “I would have to tell her she couldn’t go to the park if she didn’t wear a pair of tennis shoes. But I would have to get her some with some rhinestones on it or it had to have some bows or something like that. It just couldn’t be no regular Jordans.
“From a toddler she was a quick learner. Rickea definitely loved to talk, she loved to sing, and she loved to dance growing up. So, that was her passion before basketball. But she still has that passion about dancing. And she’s a talker but you’ve got to know her to hear her talk a lot.”
So, if mother and daughter were in their prime, who wins a game of one-on-one?
“I feel like if we play one-on-one to 10, the score will probably be like 10-9, and I win,” Rickea Jackson said. “I will beat my mom because I mean she was a great player, but I feel like times have changed. I feel like the women’s athleticism has gotten even crazier. I’m kind of a quicker guard than my mom was. My mom was more like a four, but she was a dog, mom was a dog. But I feel like you know I got the three ball, I got handles, and my mom had that, too, but I feel like she had in an old school way. If you go watch old school games, you know some people are doing the moves, but a lot of are doing the back to the basket. We aren’t doing that nowadays. That’s why I would beat her.”
Her mother agrees – but with a qualifier and doesn’t back down as a competitor.
“In high school? Me. After high school, Rickea,” Caryn Jackson said. “I can guard her. If my team had to play Rickea, I would be the one taking Rickea hands down. I would tell my coach I’m guarding her. Now, let me be clear why Rickea would beat me today in our primes. Noticeably, she’s taller than I am. But I play bigger. I was very aggressive. I was streaky. I was quick, and I played great defense. And I could rebound and block shots.
“But Rickea has the cheat sheet. So, it’s different because everything that I have for who I was as a player I have given to my daughter. Now, if she was somebody else’s kid, I probably would just really beat her badly. But she has the cheat sheet of the mental, the strategic aspect of the game, so she should beat me because she’s supposed to be better than me. She’s my kid, so I’m supposed to give her everything. Every step of her game, her phase of her life was playing this game, it should be a compound of what I had given her, which I have played at high levels. And I was always a winner. My daughter definitely has that aspect. She should beat me and if she did not beat me, I would be disappointed.”
The daughter has respect for her mother, but 16-year-old Jordan falls in the category of annoying little brother.
“Oh my God, he thinks he can really beat me because he beat me one time,” Rickea Jackson said. “Mind you, I took off basketball for about a month. And he beat me by one point, and he won’t let me live, like every time somebody says, ‘Can you beat your sister?’ where I’d be like, ‘No, he can’t,’ he says, you remember that game?’ Oh my God. I did not touch a basketball a month, a month. But he knows when I am all together in shape, it’s a blowout.”
Once Rickea Jackson committed to basketball, she was all in with her mother and high school coach, Monique Brown, who opened the gym on winter nights at Detroit Edison Public School Academy more times than could be counted in a 2018 story that be read HERE. Before she was old enough to play for her mother, she watched her coach.
“I was fortunate because Rickea became a sponge,” Caryn Jackson said. “I was coaching with Michigan Crossover on the top team, I was an assistant coach, and then one of the coaches got a coaching job with the university, and so I had to move down to the 15 under to coach them. Rickea went with me, she traveled with us to the nationals and stuff like that, and she got to see firsthand.
“At halftime, she would be shooting, and then we’re in a huddle, she’s in the huddle. She picked up so much from just being around those players and listening to what was being said to them. And what was being said to them, she developed in her game, and she took off like a rocket. Rickea became really good really quick because she listened, and she trusted the process. If you trust the process, you’re going to be amazing. And she did she trust the process. She was receiving offers after not even playing two years of basketball.”
Rickea Jackson also noticed that people were starting to notice her.
When I really started playing basketball in eighth grade, I saw when I would go to an AAU tournament, my name would be on the list of like top performers, and I would just be like, ‘Oh my God, that’s me,’ ” she said. “It made me excited, and it really inspired me to get in the gym more, so then I told Coach Brown, ‘Hey, can we go to the gym? I want to work on this. I want to be the best Rickea I can be. I want to be the best player in the state.’
“When I was in the eighth grade, I actually wasn’t focused on the best. I didn’t know what those things were. I just knew I wanted to be the best me. I stayed in the gym.”
Both mother and daughter are aware of the legacy of the late Pat Summitt and how her name resonates still in the sport. Caryn Jackson took Summitt’s impact a step further.
“Here’s the thing about Pat Summitt’s name, it resonates in the world,” Caryn Jackson said. “I mean, all over the world. Her name is important because when you say her name, you think about women’s basketball. You also think about Tennessee basketball. So, yes, her name holds a lot of weight because she has established consistency. She has established a winning program, so her name holds a lot of weight, a lot.
“Rickea, she’s very aware of who Pat was and what Pat stood for. Although she’s at Tennessee, and Pat’s not there, you still feel that presence, you still feel that, you still feel that love, you still feel that intensity, because the fans who were there, the players who come back, they all speak on it. So, it will never die, it will never go away, it’s a part of basketball history.”
Tennessee’s last national championship was in 2008, the eighth and final one of Summitt’s career. It’s now been 10 years since Summitt coached a game and this June will mark six years since her death on June 28, 2016, from Alzheimer’s disease. The SEC holds a “We Back Pat” week every season to raise awareness and funds for The Pat Summitt Foundation.
Rickea Jackson was 7 years old when the Lady Vols cut nets in 2008. She was 11 years old and still in middle school when Summitt coached her last game on March 26, 2012. Despite that gap, she is fully aware of the giant footprints Summitt left at Tennessee.
“100%. 100%. The legacy that she left will never be forgotten,” she said. “It resonates with me a lot, especially when it’s around the time where We Back Pat comes out. I sometimes would see on Twitter, see on YouTube, watch some videos and the things that she was saying, she was just such an inspiring person and people, when I would be on Instagram, some people would say like, ‘Do you think you could play for Pat?’ And I always say, ‘Heck yeah, of course I know.’
“I didn’t go through it, but clearly she was a tough, tough coach. I personally love tough coaching, right? It just means the coach loves you, they want what’s best out of you. So, I definitely would have loved to play for her, and she’s very inspiring and the things she’s done for women’s basketball is just impeccable.”
The Lady Vol players that return Tennessee to a Final Four and cuts nets will be legendary. A fan base that so misses Summitt continues to support the Lady Vols, buy tickets, wear the apparel and rep the logo. The brand that is Tennessee basketball, despite the Final Four drought, still looms over the sport, and the team that returns the Lady Vols to the national stage Summitt turned into a birthright for the program will be one of lore for the ages.
That’s a lot of pressure, and the Jacksons embrace it.
“That’s why Rickea chose Tennessee,” Caryn Jackson said. “Tennessee is a couple of players away from cutting down the net. And Rickea can be a part of that program and be a part of that situation and that special moment. She’s very aware of that, that’s how Tennessee became her final choice because Tennessee is in that position where they’re a couple of situations away from winning that possible championship in 2023.
“You have to have everything working on all cylinders, everybody doing their job with no interruptions and as long as you have that – you’re going to have minor things and stuff like that pop up – but as long as everybody is focused on one goal, and everybody’s playing their part, it’s going to be hard to stop that train from rolling.
“She’s very aware that she definitely can be a part of a historical situation where the past has been just that – a (championship) winning program. She’s very aware that she can possibly come there and win a championship, so that’s exactly how she ended up picking Tennessee because of their mindset, their focus. Their focus is to win a championship and she knows that she can be a part of it and help out. So that’s how she ended up choosing Tennessee.”
Rickea Jackson affirmed her mother’s words.
That’s one of the reasons why I came to Tennessee. I want to win a championship,” she said. “That’s one of our main goals. And I truly feel like with what we have, we can get there, we can do that 100%. I like that people are trusting in us, and we haven’t even stepped foot on the court together yet.
“So, it’s just really exciting and really inspiring, and it just makes me want to work even harder, go even harder, so I can make that dream and that wish come true.”
In-state Top247 OT explains why Tennessee ‘was the place I wanted to go’
Four-star Class of 2027 offensive tackle Princeton Uwaifo of Murfreesboro, Tenn., goes in-depth on his decision to commit to the Vols on Sunday
When Princeton Uwaifo met with Tennessee’s coaches Saturday night in the home locker room inside Neyland Stadium, he surprised them with some news that lifted their spirits in the aftermath of a tough loss. After regularly visiting Tennessee’s campus for more than a year, he finally decided he was ready to make Knoxville his future home.
The four-star Class of 2027 offensive tackle from Siegel High School in Murfreesboro, Tenn., announced Sunday that he has committed to the Vols, choosing them over Vanderbilt, Auburn and scholarship offers from at least 15 other schools. He first informed Tennessee’s staff of his decision Saturday night shortly after the Vols’ 33-27 loss to Oklahoma before publicly announcing his choice about 12 hours later.
The 6-foot-6, 316-pound Uwaifo became Tennessee’s third commitment for the 2027 class, joining linebacker JP Peace of Knoxville’s West High School and defensive back Kamauri Whitfield of Orlando, Fla. Class of 2026 tight end Luca Wolf, a former California commitment from the NFL Academy in Loughborough, England, joined Uwaifo in announcing his commitment to the Vols on Sunday.
Tennessee gave Uwaifo his first scholarship offer last year, and he has visited the Vols more than any other team. His regular trips to Knoxville made Tennessee a relatively easy choice, and he admitted that he went into Saturday’s visit thinking that he might commit to the Vols before returning home.
“I was definitely planning it going into the weekend,” said Uwaifo, who’s ranked by 247Sports as the No. 109 overall prospect and No. 11 offensive tackle in the 2027 class and the No. 6 junior from the state of Tennessee. “I just kept having a feeling that, that was the place I wanted to go to, that was probably the place I would want to spend my time in college. And I just went ahead and jumped the gun and did it.”
Uwaifo said Tennessee “was just a clear first for me.” The Vols started recruiting him months before they officially offered him, and he has already spent plenty of time in Knoxville, attending some of their games, practices and even one of their camps.
“I feel like I’ve always felt that way about them,” he said. “It’s always been a spot where I would want to go. But going up there all those times kind of amplified that.”
It also didn’t hurt that his father likes the Vols, and he eventually became a Tennessee fan himself.
“When I was a kid, I watched more NFL than I did college,” Uwaifo said. “But then I started watching college with my dad, and I just kind of grew up being a Tennessee fan.”
He said he first informed Tennessee offensive analysts Kevin Pendleton and Chris Labidou of his decision shortly after the Vols’ loss to the Sooners. Uwaifo said Tennessee’s coaches were “definitely very excited, just very happy that I chose them.”
The Vols have made Uwaifo one of their top in-state priorities for months. They liked what they saw from him when he participated in one of their camps in June, and they were encouraged by his continued growth this season.
“I think they just see me being a very big asset to them on the left side of that line, just being able to hold it down,” said Uwaifo, who plays left tackle at Siegel. “(They like) just my athleticism, and then they said my technique and footwork and stuff has gotten better over this season. I feel like that’s a big thing that they’ve been talking about.”
Experiencing the atmosphere at Neyland Stadium during some of Tennessee’s biggest games, including the Vols’ loss to Georgia on Sept. 13, made Uwaifo eager to play there himself and only added to his natural interest in Tennessee.
“I would love to play in that stadium,” he said. “It’s just really exciting, and it’s just really loud. It feels like an awesome place to play.”
He’s also excited about playing for the Vols’ staff, including offensive line coach Glen Elarbee.
“They all just seem like really great people, really fun, good role models to be around,” Uwaifo said. “I would love to be coached by those guys.”
And while Tennessee’s loss Saturday night likely knocked the Vols out of the running for a possible return to the College Football Playoff this year, he said he still feels good about their future under head coach Josh Heupel.
“I feel like they’re going in the right direction, especially with the new recruits that we have coming in,” Uwaifo said. “I think, with them, there’s going to be a bright future for them.”
Early Signing Day for the 2027 class is still more than a year away. Uwaifo said he doesn’t plan to turn away other teams that might want to continue recruiting him in the coming months, but he admitted “it’s going to be hard for them to be able to change my mind.”
For that matter, he already intends to do his part to try to convince other players to join him at Tennessee.
“I’ll definitely be a peer recruiter,” Uwaifo said. “I definitely have some people that I would love to see at Tennessee with me in the future. I haven’t started working on it yet, but I have names in mind.”
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