Luke Jackson Striving For Another Chance

Luke Jackson left the Oregon basketball program as an All-American and recent lotto pick as he was heading to Cleveland to play alongside NBA superstar LeBron James and continue his success on the hardwood in the NBA.

A few back injuries and a career where he has played for seven different teams Jackson is just looking for a place to stick.

"I played two straight seasons with my back injury and never was healthy. Its what it is but there isn't much you can do about it," said Jackson.

Its clear his injuries were a factor into how Jackson hasn't been able to stick with an NBA team. He's found some success in Toronto for the Raptors in the spring of 2007 as he signed a long term contract but found himself cut before the season started.

The 2007-08 season was a wild and crazy ride for Jackson as he went from playing in the NBDL to the Miami Heat and back to the NBDL and playing for the Idaho Stampede in the finals.

This off-season Jackson has been very busy getting himself ready for tryouts with other teams.

"I have been training in Eugene, Portland, Las Vegas, and L.A., but mostly in Vegas."

When asked why in Las Vegas Jackson stated it's a place where he can play with pro's to get himself ready for the upcoming season.

"Right now it's hard to say what teams like me enough to sing because free agency doesn't start until July but I have been hearing good things from a few teams around the league," stated Jackson who went on to add, "I had a really good work out down in California with Golden State. They like what I can bring to the table and I like it down there."

Golden State isn't the only team thats go an eye on Jackson as he quickly points out, "I have been hearing from Portland a bit, and I'm in New York (City) right now as I just finished up a work out with them which went really well."

Jackson informed Ducks Attack he has another workout scheduled next week down in Dallas with the Mavericks and is looking forward to that workout as well.

"I'd like to stay on the west coast if I could, but it's all about finding a team that works for me personally and also works for the team and the rest of the roster. Both sides have to match for it to work," Jackson added.

The uncertainty of his pro career, non stop traveling, and the injured past haven't even phased Jackson as he keeps his head up and mind set on his goal to land a spot on an NBA roster.

"My body is healthy and I feel great when it comes to my injuries in the past. I feel the best ever and I know my best years of basketball are still ahead of me," said Jackson.

Nation's 5th Ranked Center Names Ducks In Top 3

California prep basketball star Greg Smith from Bethel High School in Vallejo, CA has been tearing up the Northern California basketball scene for the past 3 years and now has moved his game to Vallejo to play his final year of basketball.

Thats not the only thing Smith has done. The 6'8 230 pound center has decided to trim his list and the Oregon Ducks have made the cut and are one of three schools left standing as he informed Mario Gomez of BarkBoard.com which is affiliated with Scout.com.

"My top three are Oregon, Arizona, and Fresno State," said Smith.

Smith was the the FresnoBee's player of the year after averaging 23 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks in three state playoff games as the Tigers finished 28-5 and second to Mater Dei-Santa Ana in the Southern California Division I Regional.

Smith has offers according to his bio page at Scout.com from Arizona, Cal, Fresno State, Oregon, USC, Washington, Kansas State, Nevada, SMU, and UTEP.

Information was drawn from:
FresnoBee
MaxPreps
BarkBoard.com

Gaddy and Bradley Not Package Deal Entirely

This past week high school basketball standout Abdul Gaddy of Bellarmine Prep in Tacoma, WA pulled his commitment from the University of Arizona because of coaching changes and announced he was opening up his recruitment for 8 schools. The list included Oregon for the #2 rated PG in the nation for the class of 2009.

There was one catch apparently, he wanted to play with best friend and teammate Avery Bradley who is the #9 SG in the nation according to Scout.com's basketball recruiting rankings.

This isnt true however as Gaddy and Bradley discussed with Jon Natio of the Seattle P-I.

"It would be great if it ended up that way," Bradley said Monday night. "We know what we can do together, and I'm confident that if you put us on the same team again we could compete for a championship."

However thats not the final decision for these recruits as they quickly made it know they are going to do whats best for each other first and then try to see if they can play together.

"What was said before got mixed up," Gaddy said. "They asked if I would like to play with (Bradley) in college, and I said that would be cool. But he's going to sit down and do what's best for him, and I'll do the same. If it ends up we're on the same page, that would be great."

Gaddy who is the nation's #2 PG in the entire nation has Oregon in his list of schools he is interested in along with Texas, Memphis, Washington, Arizona, Gonzaga, and Kansas.

Gaddy averaged 23 points and five assists last season, and was the first underclassman to be named the state's Gatorade player of the year. He and Bradley teamed to lead the Lions to a third-place finish at the 4A state tournament.

With 4 current point guards on the current roster the Ducks seem full at that position. However when Gaddy would enroll at Oregon 2 players would be Seniors and another being a Junior thus allowing Gaddy a great chance to be a starter by his sophomore year.

Bradley's situation with the Ducks is a total different story. He didn't tell Natio of a current Duck offer and didn't list the Ducks in his collection of offers. What makes things even more difficult in seeing Bradley come to Oregon is the logjam at both wing positions.

If Bradley is looking for immediate playing time by his second season Oregon won't be his best choice as the Ducks have a boundless amount of talented youth at both wing spots.

Both players said their parents, along with their AAU coach, Gary Ward, would aid in their decisions, though they would have the final say.

Whether they play together after next season remains questionable. Finding a program to appease a pair of top recruits in concert might be too tall a task





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