The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Tiffany Jackson's journey home to the Forty Acres
06.25.2018 | Women's Basketball
Three-time Texas All-American Tiffany Jackson joined the UT coaching staff in May.
By: Ryan Tewes
TexasSports.com
On an Israel-bound flight from Italy, where she had been celebrating a fifth consecutive Israeli league championship, Texas women's basketball legend Tiffany Jackson received a text from a former coach that would send her on a new journey.
It was a Friday in April and the nine-year WNBA veteran was making her way to Los Angeles to join the Sparks for training camp at the end of the month, but the message from Longhorns head coach Karen Aston put a halt to the plan.
"I'm on the plane to get my things and head back to the States when I get a text from Karen asking if I'm getting ready to retire," Jackson recalled. "I told her, 'Actually I am, I'm going to retire after the summer.' She asked me, 'Are you ready to coach?' and I told her that I had printed applications for a couple of places, she said, 'No, stop,' and I said, 'Well, okay.'"
Aston, who was the Longhorns' associate head coach for Jackson's first three seasons on the Forty Acres, didn't mention it in their conversation, but it was clear to her that there would soon be an opening on her staff.
Texas associate head coach Tina Thompson had accepted the Virginia job and Aston quickly moved to add Jackson to Longhorns' staff.
"I received the texts on Friday and I get back to the States on Monday. We talked, and Coach Aston said, 'I love you, I think you'd be great for this position. You'd be perfect for the staff and the girls.'" Jackson said. "We went through the interview process and the rest is history.
"Coach told me that it was a treat, me coming here, while I thought them asking was a treat. It's a wonderful opportunity and I couldn't have planned my life after basketball any better."
Jackson made the difficult call to the Los Angeles Sparks, letting them know that she had accepted a position with Texas and would be retiring from professional basketball. The decision was even more difficult due to the circumstances by which Jackson found herself playing with the Sparks during the 2017 season.
Jackson's world had been turned upside down in September 2015, when she received a call from her doctor advising her that a recent biopsy confirmed what they both had feared - she had been diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer.
Prior to the diagnosis, Jackson had been confident that a young, healthy athlete could never get cancer; after all, she was about to close out her eighth WNBA season, while also having played six seasons with the Israeli league's Maccabi Bnot Ashdod.
It was while playing with Maccabi Bnot Ashdod in early 2015 that Jackson noticed a small lump and she decided to have it checked when she returned to the United States. At 29 years old and with no history of breast cancer in Jackson's family, her doctor felt there wasn't too much to be concerned about but wanted to be cautious and suggested she get a biopsy.
Jackson was playing with the Tulsa Shock at the time and training camp was just about to begin. She elected to hold off on the biopsy until after the season, but as the year wore on she started to feel pain and noticed that the lump had grown larger. She contacted her doctor, who immediately ordered the biopsy. The team was on the road getting ready to play in Seattle when Jackson received the news.
"It was tough. When you hear the word cancer, you automatically think it's a death sentence and, at the time, I didn't know enough about the disease," Jackson said. "You hear about the breast cancer walks and the different foundations, but it doesn't really hit you until it hits close to home, whether it's you personally or someone that you know or someone that you're close to. I really didn't know enough about it."
What she did know was that she would not let the disease define who she was, and she would make it back to the court - that she would fight for herself and her then three-year-old son, Marley. Jackson wanted to be a role model, an example for everyone fighting cancer to see.
The playoffs were approaching and the Shock had just qualified for post-season play for the first time since Jackson had arrived in 2010. She didn't want to be a distraction and kept her diagnosis to herself through the final four games of the regular season.
"I didn't want to take that moment away from the women who had worked so hard to get there," Jackson said. "I didn't want to make anything about me, so at the time I just didn't want to tell people."
It was after their first playoff game that Jackson felt it was time to go forward with treatment. She told her teammates about her diagnosis and that, win or we lose, she would be heading to Dallas after the next game to start treatment.
Treatment consisted of four months of radiation, a mastectomy, an additional 33 days of radiation and 16 rounds of chemotherapy.
Through it all, Jackson stuck as close as she could to her pre-diagnosis routine - performing basketball drills, practicing, training, and working on cardio conditioning daily.
While her daily routine did not change, her mindset certainly did.
"I just don't take anything for granted anymore," Jackson said. "I don't take seeing my son every day for granted, or my mom or my boyfriend, whatever the case may be. I just don't take anything for granted anymore, not only the sport of basketball but just life."
Jackson received the news that her cancer was in remission in May 2016 and immediately began preparing for her return to the court. She rejoined Maccabi Bnot Ashdod and in her first game back notched 14 points in 38 minutes of play.
In February 2017, Jackson signed with the Sparks and, in the season-opener, played a season-high 32 minutes, while scoring eight points and grabbing eight boards. Her return to the WNBA enabled her to share her story with a broader audience and help promote personal health care.
"I definitely want people to learn from my experience," she said. "That was big for me and that was something that I was training for, that was why I pushed so hard to get back in the league and to be able to play again for another year.
"I preach for early detection, making sure you go to the doctor, make sure you check. I was under 30 when it happened; women aren't getting checked at 29, we're told to start getting checked at 40, and now it's dropped down to 35, so it's something that I really preach to younger women - get yourself checked out and make sure you know what's going on with your body."
As her playing career ends, it appears natural for Jackson to move into the collegiate coaching ranks in Austin. Her father, the late Marques "Mudd" Jackson, founded and coached the DFW Elite Girls Basketball Club, part of the Nike EYBL. Tiffany has worked with DFW Elite since 2005 and has served stints as a head coach.
Aston believes the hiring of Jackson proves the strength of the Texas program and the quality people that are drawn to work with the student-athletes.
"Our kids really have to look at her as a role model when you see that she's had family tragedy and now her own personal battle with breast cancer," Aston said. "She is the epitome of a strong woman and somebody that our players can definitely look towards and have a chance to pick the brain of."
A three-time All-American at The University of Texas, one of three to accomplish the feat in the Burnt Orange and White, Jackson's name is among the top 10 in almost every career category on the UT record book. Jackson currently ranks fifth in school history in career points (1,917) and eighth in scoring average (15.6 ppg).
She ranks fourth in rebounds (1,039), third in steals (313), seventh in blocked shots (181) and is the all-time leader in free throws made and attempted, with 487 and 700, respectively. Jackson averaged a program-best 31.8 minutes per game during her Texas career, while her record of 3,914 total minutes was broken this past season by Brooke McCarty.
For Aston, Jackson's talent was evident early on, but her approach to the game was also refreshing.
"I don't think I'd ever seen someone that could move like that, handle the ball like that at her size. She was just ultra-talented and fun-loving," Aston recalled. "That was the thing about Tiffany, she was serious when she stepped out on the court, but she was a real fun-loving kid."
Jackson's Longhorn legacy also includes being a regular-season Big 12 Championship. That team was also had an undefeated home mark, finishing 16-0 at the Frank Erwin Center that season.
"Texas and Burnt Orange is something that's ingrained in me," Jackson said. "I've been keeping up with the program, even overseas, getting up at three o'clock in the morning and watching games, it's something that's really important."
Jackson brings a unique perspective to a Texas program that, as one of six teams nationally to reach the Sweet 16 each of the last four season, finds itself back in the conversation as a perennial national contender. She was a member of the great 2003-04 team that reeled off a 30-5 record and was the last Texas team to top the AP poll, holding down the No. 1 spot for three weeks in February before finishing at No. 4 in the final poll ahead of the NCAA tournament.
Playing at The University of Texas for Hall of Fame head coach Jody Conradt afforded Jackson the opportunity to not only strengthen and refine her basketball skills but real-world skills and tools that can be used after life in basketball.
"We learned so much from Coach Conradt. There was so much more that she taught us other than basketball, but just life skills as a woman," Jackson recalled. "Etiquette class, how to use which silverware at what time, how to eat, how to be a woman - I'm really appreciative of that and to have played for a legend such as herself."
Jackson can also speak to the abilities of Aston, who coached the post players at UT before leaving prior to Jackson's senior year.
"I tell Coach Aston she's a lot more laid back as a head coach than she was as an associate," Jackson said. "She's always coached with a lot of heart and a lot of tenacity."
Now Jackson is taking the skills and knowledge gained at UT and as a professional and will share them with the next generation of Longhorn student-athletes. She understands the skills needed to get to that next level, but also an understanding of the importance of investing in one's future.
Jackson was drafted with the fifth overall selection by the New York Liberty in the 2007 WNBA draft, leaving Austin a few credits shy of graduating. During her professional career and after the birth of her son, it became a priority for Jackson to return to UT and complete her degree in 2012.
"Just to have a degree from The University of Texas, what that means and how far that could take you was important, and for opportunities like this (to coach at The University of Texas)," Jackson said. "After I had my son, I wanted to make sure I completed my degree work and make sure he understood that education is very important and you take it very seriously."
The transition from player to coach can be difficult, but Jackson's background and eagerness to learn has made the switch somewhat easier.
"I thank God that I came on at a slower time because I don't know if I had been thrown into the fire if I would be able to keep up, but I love the other side," Jackson said. "I'm excited to be with this coaching staff and to learn from them and I'm really excited about this group of young women that we have here."
