Orange County Community College Notebook / Steve Kresal : Jackson Rekindles Spirit at Rancho Santiago

A familiar feeling has returned to Chris Jackson these days.

It’s one Jackson, a Rancho Santiago College sophomore, remembers from his junior and senior seasons at Mater Dei High School when the Monarchs went 57-5 in two seasons and won the Southern Section 4-A championship in 1983.

This season, Jackson is starting for Rancho Santiago, ranked No. 2 in the state and No. 1 in Southern California. The Dons (25-5) already have clinched a berth in the state playoffs.

Jackson, 6-feet 3-inches, jumps center, plays guard and forward and is averaging 11.8 points a game.

His success this season has given him confidence, which he lost at UC Santa Barbara during his freshman season in 1984-85, when he averaged 1.3 points a game. He left UCSB after his first year.

“When I had my chance to leave, I did,” Jackson said. “It wasn’t that bad there. But I didn’t feel like I fit in then or down the road. I lost my game there. . . . It’s coming back now though.”

After Jackson left Santa Barbara, he wasn’t sure where he wanted to go. So, rather than make a quick decision as he did when he signed before the start of his senior year to attend UC Santa Barbara, he decided to take a year off.

To ensure he would have a place to play when he returned, Jackson told Dana Pagett, Rancho Santiago coach, that he wanted to play for him in the 1986-87 season.

Jackson wasn’t your typical redshirt though.

He didn’t work out with the team much and made it to only a few early-season games.

“I knew I’d be in a Don uniform but not for another season,” Jackson said. “It didn’t help to be there watching and not playing. I wanted to stay away from the game for a while. I just wanted to get some perspective on everything.”

The Casey Stengel Tournament, which starts today at Rancho Santiago and Cerritos, will feature three teams that played in the state championship baseball tournament last season, including defending state champion College of the Canyons and runner-up Rancho Santiago.

Long Beach, which also is in the double-elimination tournament that ends Sunday, made it to the state semifinal round last season.

Rancho Santiago opens at home today against Long Beach City at 10 a.m.

In other first-round games, Saddleback is at Cerritos at 10 a.m, Canyons plays San Diego Southwestern at Rancho Santiago at 2:30 p.m. and Scottsdale plays L.A. Harbor at Cerritos at 2:30.

Men’s volleyball returns to Orange Coast after a four-year absence when the Pirates open South Coast Conference play against Mt. San Antonio Saturday at 7 p.m.

The Pirates are coached by Bob Wetzel, who also coached the team to four South Coast Conference titles in five seasons from 1979-83.

OCC discontinued its program in 1983 because of lack of funding, but the college allocated enough funds for the program to return this season.

OCC will join Golden West, Westmont, El Camino, Long Beach City, defending state champion L.A. Pierce, Santa Barbara and Mt. San Antonio in the South Coast Conference this season.

Community College Notes

Rancho Santiago, despite losing to Cypress, 87-75, and having its school-record 18-game winning streak snapped last Saturday, remains the No. 1-ranked team in the Southern California poll again this week. Cerritos is second, Compton third, El Camino fourth, Ventura fifth and Saddleback sixth. Orange Coast fell out of the top 10 for the second time this season. . . . The men’s and women’s state basketball tournament pairings will be announced Sunday. The women’s tournament is March 5-7 at Cypress College; the men play at Loyola Marymont March 12-14.