Notre Dame Basketball: Former Irish Guard Gives Back

Before leading the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to an ACC Championship and back-to-back Elite Eights, Demetrius Jackson starred for at Marian High School in nearby Mishawaka, IN. If you don’t know Jackson’s story by now, its an incredible one. If you want to read more about it, Bleacher Report wrote a great piece about last June.

Because of his exploits on and off the court both at Marian and Notre Dame, Marian and the city of Mishawaka decided to honor Jackson last February. A year ago today, Mishawaka Mayor Dave Wood declared that February 9th would be Demetrius Jackson Day and presented him with a key to the city.

On the one year anniversary of Wood’s declaration, Jackson decided it was a good time to give back to his alma mater at Marian. Jackson and donated boxes of shoes, shirts and duffel bags to his high school. He also sent this letter too.

“The Marian High School community has always supported me in the pursuit of my dreams and helped to mold me into the man that I am today. As a measure of my gratitude, I would like to donate Under Armour apparel – including t-shirts, sneakers, and duffel bags – to the Marian High School Athletic Department.

Thanks for the continued support and Go Knights!

Sincerely,

Demetrius Jackson”

Jackson starred for the Knights from 2009-2013. While at Marian he became the best player in school history. He scored 1,934 career points, which is not only the school record, but also the St. Joe County record as well. He was conference player of the year three times and was named a McDonald’s All-American in 2013.

Jackson was drafted by the Boston Celtics with the 45th overall pick in the second round of last year’s NBA Draft. This season he has split time between the Celtics and the Maine Red Claws of the NBDL. With the Red Claws, Jackson is averaging 16.6 PPG, 5.1 APG, 3.7 RPG and is shooting 44% in 21 games.