Surprise in the Middle : Walk-On Jackson Has Found a Place at Dominguez Hills

When Trimeka Jackson played basketball for the first time as a seventh-grader, she thought the game was not for her.

“Always in the back of my mind I thought, ‘This is for boys,’ ” said Jackson, 20. “I never put any extra time into it and I really didn’t care because I thought, ‘I’m not going to be doing this for long.’ ”

It turns out that Jackson, the starting center for Cal State Dominguez Hills, fell in love with the game and has accomplished what she once thought impossible: She earned a college scholarship to play basketball.

Jackson, a 5-foot-11 junior, was a natural from the start. It didn’t take long for her to excel.

As a ninth- and 10th-grader at Long Beach Poly High, she was named the junior varsity’s most valuable player. As a senior, she averaged 10 points and 10 rebounds a game and was named to the All-Moore League team.

Jackson attended Long Beach City College and averaged 11.6 rebounds a game as a sophomore in the 1991-92 season to lead the South Coast Conference. She was an All-SCC first-team selection.

El Camino College Coach Kristy Loesener, whose team competes in the SCC, remembers Jackson well. The Vikings defeated the Warriors twice during Jackson’s sophomore season.

“I recall her being extremely physical and aggressive under the basket,” Loesener said. “She was real strong underneath and when she put a shot up you knew it would go in.”

UC Irvine recruited Jackson, but she didn’t qualify academically and returned to finish work on an associate of arts degree. Although Jackson sat out last season, she kept her game sharp by training with the team.

When she learned in May that, despite having an A.A. degree, her grades would prevent her from attending Irvine, she called Dominguez Hills Coach Van Girard.

“At first I was real disappointed,” Jackson said. “Irvine was a great academic opportunity for me. But later on it kind of motivated me.”

Girard told Jackson that she would have to try out for the team and pay her tuition for the fall semester. She has since earned a full scholarship.

“It was a great surprise,” Girard said. “Without her we would be lacking in size. We really would have taken some knocks if she wasn’t here.

“She has also stepped up and provided the veteran leadership we needed. And her defense has come on like gangbusters.”

Jackson has done a good job replacing four-time All-California Collegiate Athletic Assn. center Dionne Vanlandingham. Jackson leads the Toros (5-5) with 9.4 rebounds a game and she is second to senior guard Karee Bonde (12.3 points) in scoring at 10.3.

Jackson was nervous when the Toros opened the season last month against Eastern Montana at the Chico State tournament.

“My hands were sweating like crazy,” she said. “My first thought was, ‘I hope I don’t mess up.’ My nerves were really going.”

But she overcame the nervousness and had 10 rebounds and seven points in the Toros’ 61-49 loss. The next night, against Chico State, she had 10 points and seven rebounds in a 60-47 loss.

In the Toros’ last game of the tournament, Jackson scored 21 points and had 12 rebounds in a 60-56 loss to the University of Puget Sound.

Girard is not surprised by Jackson’s development and believes she can become a dominant force inside.

“Almost immediately I knew she would start,” Girard said. “I knew early on she was going to be a big player for us. . . . She’s not as big as other centers in the CCAA, but she makes up for it with athleticism. She will more than hold her own.”

Jackson is shorter than most of the centers in the CCAA, but tries to make up for it with physical play. Girard would like to see Jackson develop into more of an all-around player.

“She has to add elements to her game,” he said. “Now, she is strictly a power player. She needs a perimeter shot.”

Jackson said she is ready for Girard’s challenge, just as she was years ago when her father issued one.

“I like to win,” she said. “I’m a competitor. . . . I remember when I first started playing basketball in the seventh grade, there was a girl who started in front of me and my dad said, ‘You could beat her out.’ After a couple of games I did. I had to.”