Buckeyes’ Jackson Is No Joke to Trojans : College basketball: Big Ten’s player of the year last season is averaging 24.6 points.

After selecting a college, Jim Jackson, the 1989 Ohio prep basketball player of the year, called Randy Ayers, the Ohio State assistant who had spent two years recruiting him.

“Coach, I’ve made my decision, and I’m going to Syracuse,” Jackson said, hearing nothing but silence. “No, I’m just fooling, I’m going to Georgetown.”

Ayers, who had thought Jackson would choose Ohio State, was stunned.

“My heart almost stopped,” he said. “I was ready to get in my car and drive from Columbus to (Jackson’s home in) Toledo to talk to him. My car knew its way to Toledo by itself.”

But Jackson, who had decided to attend Ohio State, was joking.

“Jimmy and I had built up a relationship where we could kid each other,” Ayers said. “And I think it’s still that way even though I was elevated to the head coaching job.”

Ayers became Ohio State’s coach when Gary Williams quit to become Maryland’s coach after the 1989 season, much to Jackson’s relief.

“I hoped Coach Ayers would get the job,” Jackson said. “He’d recruited me since my sophomore year of high school.”

A 6-foot 6-inch junior All-American, Jackson has led Ohio State to a 50-17 record and two consecutive NCAA tournament berths since arriving at Columbus. He averaged 18.9 points and 5.5 rebounds last season and was voted the Big Ten player of the year as Ohio State won the conference co-championship and went 27-4. The top-seeded team in the Midwest, Ohio State advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1983 before losing to St. John’s.

Jackson is at his best in big games. When point guard Mark Baker was injured during a game against Indiana last season, Jackson took over at point guard and had 30 points, 11 rebounds and six assists as Ohio State won in double overtime, 97-95. He made the basket that sent the game into overtime and set up forward Treg Lee for the winning shot in the second overtime.

Selected to play in the Pan American Games last summer, Jackson was the leading scorer for the U.S. team before sitting out the last two games because of a stress fracture in his left foot.

“I told the doctors that there was a pain in my left foot and I thought it was coming from my shoe,” Jackson said. “It really never bothered me to the point where I couldn’t play. I really wish I wouldn’t have said anything to the doctors, but it worked out for the best “

With Jackson sidelined, Puerto Rico beat the United States by five points in a semifinal game. Considering that Jackson had averaged 18.2 points and shot 67.8% in five games, the United States probably would have won if he had played.

With the injury healed, Jackson is averaging a team-high 24.6 points and 6.8 rebounds in leading the No. 4 Buckeyes (6-0), who will play USC (6-1) today at 4:30 at the Sports Arena.

The game, which will be televised by ESPN, matches two of college basketball’s best guards in Jackson and USC’s Harold Miner, who is averaging 25.7 points.

Although Miner probably won’t guard Jackson, Jackson might check Miner at times.

“I think Harold is smart enough not to get involved in (a personal battle with Jackson),” USC Coach George Raveling said. “That’s for the fans. I think Jackson and Miner will cancel each other out.”

Even so, Miner looks forward to playing against Jackson.

“I’d compare (Jackson) a little bit to Oscar Robertson and a little bit to Magic Johnson,” Miner said. “He’s such a great passer and he’s so strong physically. He overpowers a lot of guys and he can also handle the basketball like Magic. He has a flare for the game that reminds me of Magic.

“I’m not going to try to go out and outplay Jimmy, and I’m sure he’s not going to try and outplay me.”

Jackson, who met Miner at a summer camp in 1988 when they were in high school and who played on a team with Miner in the 1989 U.S. Olympic Festival, looks forward to playing against Miner.

“When you’ve got a nickname like Baby Jordan, people tend to look at you a little bit more,” Jackson said of Miner. “I always love playing against good competition. It’s tough when you’ve got to play against a guy like Harold Miner because you’ve got to chase him around for 40 minutes because you know he’s going to put it up. But when you get to the pros, you’re going to meet players like that every night.”

Although there is speculation that Jackson will leave Ohio State for the NBA next season, Jackson said he plans to return for his senior year.

“I think I’ll be back next year because my main goal is to get my degree,” Jackson said. “I know the NBA will be there next year. Right now, I want to stay. But you never know what will happen in the future. Something might happen with my family with the money situation where I might forgo my last year.”

Although Jackson has become one of the nation’s best college basketball players, he didn’t expect to be even though he was one of the best in Toledo as a youngster.

“I didn’t want to go out for the basketball team in grade school because I thought I was going to get cut,” Jackson said. “I was more into street football. I didn’t have any confidence because I’d never gone out for an organized team.”

Jackson made the team, though, after a friend had persuaded him to try out, then blossomed into one of the best high school basketball players in the nation. A two-time Mr. Ohio Basketball, Jackson was the MVP of the 1989 state tournament after leading Toledo’s Macomber High to the state title as a senior.

Ayers knew Jackson was a special talent the first time he saw him.

“He had a great feel for the game,” Ayers said. “He really understood how to play with the other four people on the court, but he could also create for himself. It takes a special player to be able to do that.”

Ayers was hesitant to put too much pressure on Jackson as a freshman, but Jackson led the Buckeyes in scoring, assists and minutes played as Ohio State finished 17-13 and earned its first NCAA tournament bid in three seasons. Jackson made the winning shots in victories over Louisville and Michigan, which were ranked in the top 10.

“We tried to simplify the game for him when he was a freshman,” Ayers said. “We gave him two or three things we wanted him to concentrate on early in his career, but he was a big part of our team early.”

With the graduation of starting center Perry Carter and Lee, who started all but one game at forward last season, Ayers has expanded Jackson’s role this season, asking him to play point guard when Baker leaves the game.

“We have a lot of people who can score, but we need him to control the ball a lot more for us this season,” forward Chris Jent said.

Jackson enjoys playing guard.

“I played a lot of guard in high school and I played a lot of guard last summer in Cuba,” he said. “Playing guard allows me to get my teammates the ball a little better because I’m taller than most of the other guards that guard me. So, it helps me not only in scoring, but in setting up the offense. I’m more of a guard than a forward, but I’ve just been labeled as a forward.”