DETROIT (10/13/2015) -- Practice is in full swing for the Titan basketball teams and for the men's squad, a former great is back as an assistant in
Jermaine Jackson '99. DetroitTitans.com sat down with coach Jackson for a set of questions in a feature called #TitanTuesday.
A 2010 Detroit Titan Hall of Fame inductee and two-time All-Horizon League standout, Jackson earned four letters at the University from 1995-99 and is 20th all-time in scoring with 1,341 career points. He is also fifth in school history with 509 assists and ninth tallying 142 steals. He was also a part of two Titan NCAA Tournament wins against St John's in 1998 and UCLA in 1999.
What Does It Mean To Come Back & Be A Coach At Your Alma Mater?"It is a great thing. I was actually recruited by coach
Ray McCallum back in high school so I have known him for almost 20 years. I watched coach
Jay Smith at Michigan when I use to go up there and see Jalen Rose and those guys so I knew a lot about him. To get on this coaching staff and knowing the ropes around here, I feel we can continue to make this go the Titan way."
What You Remember The Most About Your Playing Days?"The great teammates I had. That is what I really remember are the teammates. The blood, sweat and tears we shared in the locker room through the wins and losses. I remember coach Watson putting us together with his great coaching staff and building us together to make one team."
About Playing & Now Coaching In Calihan Hall?"We have great fans. There were times we lost a game – we didn't really lose too many – but our fans were still there with us. Not only that, we had great faculty support and administrative support. Sister Fay, Kathy Bush, Robert Kinsman, they were great for us off the court, always supporting us and helping us. Everyone was tight and we were all there for each other."
On His Work Ethic As A Player?"The best open gym in the country was at Calihan Hall. Derrick Coleman, Steve Smith, Jalen Rose, Chris Webber, Jerry Stackhouse, Isiah Thomas and even Shaq came in here. I played against Howard Eisley, Voshon Lenard, Eric Snow, Earl Boykins and Brian Tolbert so I was blessed to go and play against some great players. We were in here grinding and playing and we all held each other accountable and that is why if you look from those teams, we are all pretty much successful even today."
What Were Your Goals When You Played?"Our biggest goal was to win. If we had any guys that were not on the same train we were on, we made sure we corrected that."
What Is The Best Lesson You Learned From Coach Perry Watson?"No matter what, keep going forward. Stay disciplined. Stay within yourself and never let anyone outwork you. Coach Watson was prepared. He had practices planned out 2-3 weeks ahead of time. Everything was clockwork, we got into the gym for three hours and we didn't waste a minute of it."
On How His Titan Teams Were Able To Be Successful Against Bigger Programs?"What I remember is the hard work we put in the summer time to win those type of games against St. John's, Michigan, Michigan State, UCLA. The work we put in the summer time preparing for those games got us ready. I don't think there were too many teams in the country who could out-work us. We had one of the top defenses in the country and we were shutting guys down because we were so well prepared. I knew what some players love to eat and what they like to do in warm ups, just things like that because we had such a great coaching staff who had us prepared for anything."
On The Team's NCAA Tournament Wins?"You have to understand where we are from. We are from Detroit and you have to earn everything. We played in front of about 50,000 people against UCLA, but we were not phased at all. They had a great team, but I told our team, 'Lets Go, it's us against them.' I remember some guys were a little shaky in warm ups and missing lay ups, but what really got us going against them was overhearing them huddled up and just some things that came out of that. I got Bacari (Alexander) and the guys together and said, lets get this."
What You Take Away From Playing Professionally?"The preparation that the coaching staff at Detroit gave me and the discipline that my mom and dad gave me. You can go overseas and get lost and you can go and quit and give up because you are not familiar with anything. When I went overseas, I didn't understand the language or anything, but I was always prepared. That is the biggest thing, when you are prepared, nothing surprises you."
