Former Syracuse basketball player Rick Jackson in TBT in a special way

Former Syracuse basketball star Rick Jackson will honor the late Hank Gathers in this summer’s The Basketball Tournament, assuming it transpires.

Boeheim’s Army is shaping up wonderfully for this summer’s The Basketball Tournament (“TBT”), yet former Syracuse basketball player Rick Jackson is forgoing the Orange-based crew in favor of another squad.

Before any ‘Cuse fanatic out there cries foul, read on about what Jackson has elected to do. It’s classy, memorable and poignant, to say the least.

Jackson, a 6-foot-9 power forward, will suit up for Team Hank Gathers in honoring the legacy of Hank Gathers, a Philadelphia high-school legend and one of the premier college basketball players in the late 1980s, prior to his unbelievably tragic death at the age of 23 on March 4, 1990.

Gathers attended Dobbins Technical High School in Philadelphia, and his collegiate career consisted of USC and then Loyola Marymount. At Loyola Marymount, Gathers and high-school teammate Bo Kimble led a unit that averaged an astounding 122.4 point per game in 1990.

Jackson, like Gathers and Kimble, went to high school in Philadelphia, at Neumann Goretti High School, where former Syracuse sensation Scoop Jardine also played. Another Neumann Goretti colleague of Jackson’s, D.J. Rivera, is also on Team Hank Gathers.

It’s quite touching that Jackson is honoring Gathers by joining Rivera as well as Gathers’ brother, nephew and cousin, among others, in vying for the TBT’s $2 million, winner-take-all purse.

In Jackson, Team Hank Gathers is getting a strong low-post guy who has previously competed in the TBT for Boeheim’s Army on several occasions.

Jackson fared well on the Hill during his tenure with the Orange from 2007 to 2011. During his senior stint, he got named the Big East Conference Defensive Player of the Year, and he collected 13.1 points and 10.3 rebounds per contest in that term, according to orangehoops.org.

Throughout his ‘Cuse career, Jackson helped Syracuse advance to a pair of Sweet 16 appearances in the Big Dance. In the 2009-10 stanza, the Orange attained the No. 1 national ranking in both major polls, and it received a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, before it fell to Butler in the regional semi-finals.

Since moving on from Central New York, Jackson has played professionally overseas, as well as in the NBA’s D League, now known as the G League.

As a Syracuse alum and fan of its hoops program, I will always fervently root for Boeheim’s Army. My fingers are crossed that the 2020 TBT isn’t canceled due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Moving forward, though, I’m also proudly in the cheering section of Jackson and Team Hank Gathers. During my pre-teen and early teen-age years, I really got into college basketball, and of course March Madness.

I remember those daunting Loyola Marymount squads. I remember when Hank Gathers tragically passed away. I remember how Kimble shot some of his free throws in the 1990 NCAA Tournament, in which Loyola Marymount reached the Elite Eight, with his left hand, to honor his dear friend Hank.

Gathers’ spirit lives on forever, and let’s hope that Team Hank Gathers goes on a magical run in the TBT.