Cleveland Jackson Rejoins Coaching Ranks

Cleveland Jackson, formerly with the Dawgs' 1993 and 1994 hoops teams, was recently named assistant men's basketball coach at Belmont Abbey College.

Jackson came to UGA from Butler Community College in Kansas, where he averaged 26 points and 9 rebounds per game and was named Junior College Player of the Year. He was recruited to Georgia by head coach Hugh Durham and assistant coach Mark Slonaker, joining a star-studded signing class that included Carlos Strong, Pertha Robinson, Terrell Bell and Shandon Anderson. Cleveland averaged 9 points and 3 rebounds per game during his UGA playing career and was the leading scorer for Coach Durham's 500th win.

After graduating in 1994, followed by a brief stint playing overseas and a period of time coaching at the high school level, Jackson was again called by Mark Slonaker, who had become the head coach at Mercer University. This time, Slonaker asked Jackson to join his staff as an assistant coach. Jackson accepted and thereafter coached at Mercer for seven years.

I believe that Jackson is taking the assistant coaching position recently vacated by Jonas Hayes, when Hayes left to join the UGA staff.

Cleveland is a sharp guy and I couldn't be happier for him and his family.

Congratulations, Coach Jackson!

Alex Anderson signs to play in Tel Aviv

Alex Anderson, daughter of UGA's own Willie Anderson, and niece of Georgia's Shandon Anderson, has signed to play basketball in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Alex Anderson played in the Atlanta area for Redan High School, where she lettered for 4 years in basketball, 3 years in volleyball, and 2 years as the high jumper on the school's track team. Anderson averaged 10 points and 7 rebounds per game in her senior year for a Redan team that went 24 and 4 on the year.

Anderson signed to play her college ball with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Although Anderson started her freshman year with an average of just 5 points per game, by the time of her junior year, Anderson became an offensive star.

Anderson averaged 21 points, 10 rebounds and 52% shooting from the floor during her junior year. She was named Southern Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Year, and was the MVP of the Southern Conference Tournament.

Anderson's scoring average dipped slightly in her senior year, 2008, but she still averaged 17 points a game and almost 10 rebounds. Anderson was again named the Conference's Player of the Year and Tournament MVP.

On May 28, 2008, Anderson was selected to be the Southern Conference's Female Athlete of the year.

Congratulations, Alex!

Southern Classic Roundball Invitational

is set for this weekend.

Might sound a little bit like a UGA basketball reunion. Damien Wilkins, Shandon and Willie Anderson, Adrian Jones and others are reportedly participating. Former UGA coach, Jim Harrick, is supposed to be there, ostensibly as coach of a team from the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Games will be played at Life University.

A few Dawgs are on the list of the 66

pairs of brothers who both played in the NBA. The article below is entitled "Hermanos y Leyendas," which means "Brothers and Legends" in English.

Even if we slept through our high school Spanish classes and cannot read the article, everybody can see the names at the bottom of the article where the former Dawgs are listed.

The Brothers Gasol, who look remarkably alike, will be the 66th pair. It's ironic that Marc Gasol will apparently be signing with the Memphis Grizzlies. Weren't they the team that got robbed when they traded away his older brother, Pau, to the Los Angeles Lakers? Since Marc was the MVP of the Spanish League, he might help the Grizzlies to recover.

If you make a mistake, I guess life sometimes gives you another chance, or at least something that looks like it.

http://www.marca.com/edicion/marca/baloncesto/nba/es/desarrollo/1143161.html