You could say when Tevin Jackson’s 2020 West Coast Classic season ended prematurely with a hip injury before our last game against Lakeside, it ended the whole team’s season prematurely too. In a game where one point was the difference between Redbacks playing finals and not, Jackson’s versatility on both ends of the court was sorely missed.
The good news for us is that Tevin’s hip is better and he’s excited to have signed on again for NBL1 2021. It was an easy decision to return to the Redbacks:
“It was pretty much a no-brainer given who we have coming back next year – I certainly wouldn’t want to go up against us given the firepower we have. Last season was a little bit difficult as it was our first time playing together and we were understanding how we all play. It’s going to be a lot different in 2021 and I’m really excited about it.”
NBL1 Director Nathan Barns was thrilled to get his signature:
“Tevin is such a critical piece of the puzzle at the Redbacks. His skill level, and more so his determination, lifts everyone. We look like a different side with Tevin in the paint. Tevin brings a whole lot of experience to our young group which can learn plenty from the way that he prepares and executes.”
Captain Joel Wagner points to his versatility and attitude as a real strengths:
“There were times when we were leaning on him to defend the four or five men, and then down the other end on offence, despite being a guard, he was often playing the four spot because of his size and length. He didn’t complain once and just got on with it. He’s the sort of guy who’s exciting to play with. He doesn’t ask for anything and just does the job that’s needed.”
Tevin’s excited about the style of play the team offers:
“It’s going to be pretty fast-paced with a lot of up and down – a lot of shots. At the start of the WCC season, we were still feeling our way around it. Towards the end, that’s when we started to really pick it up and learn each other and how we play off the ball with each other. You could see it really starting to blossom. Coming into NBL1 you’ll be able to see us really pick up on that. We’ll have more games to figure it out as well and there’s a lot of excitement around it.”
2021 is certainly going to be a family affair for the Jacksons with CJ coaching the team and Tevin’s younger brother Denzel also signing on. CJ says:
“It’s exciting for me, first of all to now have both of my boys playing at the club so I’m delighted about that. The same goes for Edo to have his son Kyden and even for Andrew Vlahov to have Ethan here. For us to have those next-generation players at the club is an exciting thing. It provides that link between us all from our playing days for the club and now with our kids continuing that on so it’s so good to see that.
With Tevin, one of the things in the West Coast Classic that stood out was how important he became to our team. We didn’t have him in that last game where we lost to Lakeside and it was a nice compliment for him that people made the comment afterwards that if we had him, it’s likely the end result would have been different. That’s because of the added pressure he puts on the opponent’s defence. He is a very good lockdown defender and really he can play one through five. Offensively, he’s dangerous when he’s driving, is one of the fastest players in the comp, and he just needs to use that speed to his advantage. I’m really looking forward to seeing what he can do next year as we can slot him in anywhere we need to and that’s going to make us dangerous.”
On playing with brother Denzel, Tevin says:
“It will be the first time for us playing on the same team together because we do have quite a bit of an age gap. Obviously, he still has to earn his spot and can’t just expect to step in because his dad is the coach. He has strong competition to go up against at practice every week, but he does have a good work ethic and trains hard. So I’m looking forward to it.”