Angel Jackson
{{short description|American basketball player (born 2001)}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| name = Angel Jackson
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| number =
| position = Center
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 6
| weight_lb =
| league = WNBA
| team =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|2001|2|14}}
| birth_place = Richmond, California, U.S.
| nationality =
| high_school =
| college = USC (2019–2022)
Jackson State (2022–2024)
| draft_league = WNBA
| draft_year = 2024
| draft_round = 3
| draft_pick = 36
| draft_team = Las Vegas Aces
| career_start = 2024
| years1 = 2024–present
| team1 = Faenza Basket Project
| highlights =
- 2× SWAC Defensive Player of the Year (2023, 2024)
- 2× Second-team All-SWAC (2024)
- McDonald's All-American (2019)
}}
Angel Jackson (born February 14, 2001) is an American professional basketball player who is a free agent. She was selected by the Las Vegas Aces in the 2024 WNBA draft after playing college basketball at USC and Jackson State. In high school, she played for Salesian College Preparatory in Richmond, California. Jackson was named SWAC Defense Player of the Year both years she attended. On April 15, 2024, Jackson became the second HBCU player to be drafted in the last 20 years, joining Meshya Williams-Holliday, drafted in the 2022 WNBA draft.{{cite web |last1=Horrow |first1=Ellen |title=WNBA draft recap: Caitlin Clark goes No. 1 to Fever, plus all the highlights, analysis|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/wnba/2024/04/15/wnba-draft-live-updates-caitlin-clark/73324469007/# |website=USA Today |access-date=April 15, 2024 |date=April 15, 2024}}
High school career
Jackson played basketball for Salesian College Preparatory in Richmond, California. During her junior season, she averaged 14.6 points, 10.5 rebounds, and one steal per game, leading her team to a {{Win-loss record|w=27|l=6}} record and a regional semi-final appearance. Jackson was named to the San Francisco Chronicle All-Metro First Team and California All-State Girls Second Team.{{cite web |last1=Askeland |first1=Kevin |title=2017-18 California All-State Girls Basketball Teams |url=https://www.maxpreps.com/news/GXAknHiMi0eqHIHlpkgW9A/2017-18-california-all-state-girls-basketball-teams.htm |website=Miami Herald |access-date=April 15, 2024 |date=May 4, 2018}} As a senior, she averaged 16.2 points, 12 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and one assist per game, helping her team reach the regional finals.
She committed to playing college basketball for USC over offers from other major programs, including Arizona State, California, and Florida.{{cite web |last1=Aldax |first1=Mike |title=Salesian's Angel Jackson rises to occasion|url=https://richmondstandard.com/sports/2019/05/31/salesians-angel-jackson-rises-to-occasion/ |publisher=The Richmond Standard |access-date=April 15, 2024 |date=May 31, 2019}}
College career
As a true freshman, Jackson started three games and appeared in 30 games. She averaged 7.0 points and 4.9 rebounds per game and set a season high with 19 points on February 7, 2020. She recorded one double-double with 11 points and a career-high 14 rebounds on November 14, 2019. Jackson led the team with 32 blocks and was named to the South Point Shootout All-Tournament Team. As a senior, she averaged 9.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. While at JSU, she made the All-SWAC Second Team and won back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year.{{cite web |title=SWAC Announces Women's Basketball Postseason Awards |url=https://swac.org/news/2024/3/12/swac-announces-womens-basketball-2024-postseason-awards.aspx |website=Parkland Talk |access-date=April 15, 2024 |date=March 12, 2024}} Jackson led her team to back-to-back SWAC tournament championships and the first round of the NCAA Women's Tournament.{{citation needed|date= April 2024}}
Professional career
=WNBA=
Jackson was selected as the thirty-sixth pick of the 2024 WNBA draft by the Las Vegas Aces.{{Cite news|url=https://aces.wnba.com/news/2024-wnba-draft/|title=In the 2024 WNBA Draft, the Las Vegas Aces Select...|work=WNBA|access-date=April 15, 2024|language=en}} On 7 May 2024, Jackson was waived by the Las Vegas Aces.{{Cite web |title=WNBA Player Movement & Transactions {{!}} WNBA |url=https://www.wnba.com/players/transactions |access-date=2024-05-14 |website=www.wnba.com}}{{Cite web |title=Las Vegas Aces Waive Angel Jackson |url=https://aces.wnba.com/news/las-vegas-aces-waive-angel-jackson/ |access-date=2024-05-14 |website=Las Vegas Aces |language=en}}
=Athletes Unlimited=
On February 11, 2025, Jackson became the first HBCU player to join Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball.{{Cite web |title=Former Jackson State standout is the first Athletes Unlimited player from an HBCU |url=https://andscape.com/features/former-jackson-state-standout-is-the-first-athletes-unlimited-player-from-an-hbcu/ |access-date=2025-04-15 |website=Andscape |language=en}} Jackson played in the 2025 season and finished 34th in scoring with 2,257 leaderboard points, averaging 1.7 points and 1.9 rebounds in 8.7 minutes per game.{{Cite web |title=2025 Basketball Stats |url=https://auprosports.com/basketball/stats/ |access-date=2025-04-15 |website=AU Pro Sports |language=en}}
Career statistics
{{WNBA player statistics legend}}
=College=
{{WNBA player statistics start}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2019–20
| style="text-align:left;"| USC
| 30 || 3 || 19.5 || .453 || .000 || .740 || 4.9 || 0.7 || 0.2 || 1.1 || 1.3 || 7.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2020–21
| style="text-align:left;"| USC
| 20 || 12 || 21.9 || .474 || .000 || .641 || 4.3 || 1.0 || 1.1 || 1.9 || 1.3 || 7.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2021–22
| style="text-align:left;"| USC
| 16 || 4 || 11.5 || .429 || .000 || .567 || 3.0 || 0.6 || 0.3 || 0.9 || 0.9 || 4.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2022–23
| style="text-align:left;"| JSU
| 31 || 26 || 22.9 || .424 || .500 || .764 || 7.1 || 0.7 || 0.4 || 2.5 || 1.9 || 9.2
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2023–24
| style="text-align:left;"| JSU
| 33 || 33 || 25.2 || .468 || .500 || .812 || 6.8 || 0.9 || 0.9 || 2.9 || 1.3 || 10.0
|- class="sortbottom"
|style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
|130||78||21.1||.451||.500||.746||5.6||0.8||0.6||2.0||1.4||8.1
|- class="sortbottom"
|style="text-align:center;" colspan="14"|Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference.{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/angel-jackson-1.html|title=Angel Jackson College Stats|publisher=Sports-Reference|accessdate=April 15, 2024}}
{{S-end}}
Personal life
Jackson is the daughter of Barbara Johnson and has four brothers.{{cite web |title=Angel Jackson – Women's Basketball |url=https://usctrojans.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/angel-jackson/12043 |publisher=University of Southern California Athletics |access-date=April 15, 2024}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://usctrojans.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/angel-jackson/12043 USC Trojans bio]
- [https://gojsutigers.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/angel-jackson/2721 JSU Tigers bio]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Angel}}
Category:American women's basketball players
Category:Las Vegas Aces draft picks
Category:Sportspeople from Richmond, California
Category:McDonald's High School All-Americans
Category:USC Trojans women's basketball players