Action Jackson Again Ponders Big Change

Darrin Jackson is no stranger to life-changing decisions. As a high school senior, he chose the service over a college basketball scholarship. Now that he has a scholarship and is averaging 10.9 points a game for New Mexico State, Jackson, 25, is considering a jump to professional basketball after this, his junior season.

“I can’t say I will be here next year,” said Jackson, a native of Dothan, Ala., who played at Antelope Valley College two years ago. “I’ve got to see how the end of this season goes, and then I’ll look at my options.”

Jackson, who prefers to be called D.J., is New Mexico State’s second-leading scorer. The Aggies are 16-3, leading the Big West, and, unless they severely stub their toes, are headed for a berth in the NCAA tournament.

But team accomplishments aside, Jackson already is studying the NBA and other professional basketball leagues. Big decisions don’t scare him much. Otherwise, he would not have joined the Navy out of high school.

“I was 6-4, kind of immature and I wanted to experience life,” said Jackson, now 6-foot-8, 215 pounds. “I had scholarship offers, but they weren’t big time. The biggest name was Kansas State.”

In four years of Naval service as a medical assistant, he did not go overseas to “experience life,” but he did play on the All-Armed Forces team, which prepared him for Antelope Valley. In 1991-92, he averaged 29.6 points and 13 rebounds, and led the state in scoring. He broke J.R. Rider’s school record for most points in a season (919) and then decided to move on.

“I picked New Mexico State because they had (former Moorpark College player) Sam Crawford at the time,” Jackson said. “I was a big-time name in scoring and he was leading the nation in assists. So I wanted to play with that guy.”

He shunned offers from DePaul, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Arizona. But they did not roll out the red carpet for Ensign Jackson in Las Cruces. He started only 11 games last season--taking over after forward Cliff Reed suffered an ankle sprain--and his 29.6 scoring average plummeted by 22 points.

Jackson is hardly back to his old form this season, although he ranks second in scoring among Aggies players. His shooting percentages are not impressive: 37.5% from the field, 34.6% from three-point range and 61.4% from the free-throw line.

Perhaps this was one D.J. decision gone awry.

“I thought I was going to put up big numbers here,” he said. “But I found out this was a defensive team. I came from a system where you went to the glass or posted up. You played. Here, I’ve never gone inside. I’ve been on the perimeter as a three man.”

Jackson is New Mexico State’s designated bomber, the three-point specialist in a three-guard lineup. But it’s difficult to complain when the Aggies are on top in the Big West at 8-2 (and ranked 23rd last week before losing consecutive games).

“I don’t have so many regrets because of our team accomplishments,” Jackson said. “I played 25 minutes and scored 11 points (with three rebounds and four assists) against Nebraska in the NCAA tournament last year as a sophomore.”

If jumping to the pros with modest collegiate numbers sounds like an absurd decision, Jackson offers the case of guard Reggie Jordan, recently signed by the Lakers out of the Continental Basketball Assn. Jordan led the Aggies in 1990-91 with a scoring average of 14.6.

Said Jackson, who is two semesters short of graduating with a degree in social work, “(Jordan’s) numbers were about the same as mine. In college, they isolate you to do one thing. In the pros, the pace and style is totally different. It’s more my game.”

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Checking the fax: Pepperdine’s Dana Jones (North Hollywood) scored a personal-best 31 points against Portland last week and moved to ninth on the team’s all-time scoring list (1,503). He is also second in rebounding with 946.

Oklahoma’s Calvin Curry (Ventura College), who ranks ninth in the Big Eight Conference in three-point shooting percentage (37.5%), made six three-point baskets and scored a personal-best 27 points in a recent game against Iowa State. . . . Nevada Las Vegas’ Dedan Thomas (Taft) ranks second in the Big West Conference in assists (7.2 per game) and steals (two).

UC Santa Barbara sophomore Sasha Scardino (Thousand Oaks), a walk-on last season, has scored in double figures 10 times this season as a starting forward.