RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Department of Intercollegiate Athletics learned on Tuesday that Jordan Jackson, who played for the men's basketball team from 2017-20, is set to start his professional career with Ginásio C.F. Basketball in Portugal's Proliga this season.
 
UTRGV had at least 14 alumni playing professionally this past season, six of whom played with Jackson, including Johnny Crnogorac (2017-19, Australia), Isaiah Fontaine (2018-20, Finland), Xavier McDaniel Jr. (2016-18, ABA), Tyson Smith (2018-19, Georgia), Lew Stallworth (2015-18, Romania), and Terry Winn III (2017-19, The Basketball League).
 
As a senior at UTRGV in 2019-20, Jackson averaged 15.0 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.4 steals while shooting 45.2% from the field and 84.8% from the foul line in 29 games (28 starts) to help lead the team to secure the No. 2 seed in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Tournament, the best seed in program history. He ranked 65^thin the NCAA and fifth in the WAC in free throw percentage, 161^st in the NCAA and third in the WAC in field goal percentage, 202^nd in the NCAA and third in the WAC in free throws made (106), 204^th in the NCAA and sixth in the WAC in steals per game, and 246^th in the NCAA and seventh in the WAC in total steals (42). Jackson led UTRGV in scoring 13 times, rebounding once and assists five times. He reached double-figures in scoring 24 times, including five games of 20+ points.
 
Known as a prolific dunker, Jackson was twice featured on ESPN's SportsCenter, including "Best Dunk" of the night against Kansas City on Jan. 9, 2020, and the No. 3 play of the night against Chicago State two days later.
 
Originally from Houston, Jackson twice earned All-State honors at St. Puis X before playing his freshman season at Texas Tech in 2015-16. Then, after one season at Midland College, Jackson transferred to UTRGV in 2017-18, but only played in five games before redshirting the season due to injury.
 
Jackson came back strong in 2018-19, helping to lead the team to the second round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament by averaging 8.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.3 steals while shooting 47.3% from the field and 71.3% from the line in 37 games (30 starts). Jackson led the team in scoring four times, rebounding three times and assists three times. He reached double-figures in scoring 16 times.
 
Jackson graduated from UTRGV with a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication in 2019 and then completed his Master of Public Affairs in 2020.

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