Loren Jackson stood outside the Morgan Park Baptist Church wearing a Boys to Men Math and English Academy T-shirt on Tuesday and showed off the facilities for the new college prep school that will open next month and immediately be recognized as a basketball power.
''Every man has to travel his own path,'' Jackson said. ''This is the neighborhood I grew up in and a vision that I had five years ago. The kids will come in as boys and leave with the ability to give back to society as men.''
The building, which is a historic landmark dating to the 1890s, has a classroom in which each student has a desk and computer, two other smaller classrooms and a practice gym.
Boys to Men is a private, not-for-profit boarding school that is certified and accredited as part of Keystone National High School in Bloomsburg, Pa. It is NCAA-sanctioned.
Jackson, 37, who had success as the basketball coach at Julian, is the founder and CEO of the prep school that will start with 14 students.
''This is going to be a basketball academy that educates,'' Jackson said. ''The educational setting as far as classrooms, student-to-teacher ratio and tutoring is unparalleled. These kids will get more 1-on-1 and 2-on-1 learning.'' Jackson has a staff of five retired teachers.
While it is easy to take Jackson's coaching record alone as a measure of his success, his real pride comes from the number of academic qualifiers who have gone on to Division I schools.
Brandon Ewing, a Sun-Times All-Area selection last winter, is headed to Wyoming. Sean Dockery, the 2002 Sun-Times Player of the Year, has been on the honor roll and will captain a Duke team many are touting as the best in the nation for 2005-06.
Others Jackson has coached as a head coach and assistant include T.J. Gray (Western Illinois), Jason McKinnon (Maryland-Eastern Shore), James Peters (Nevada-Las Vegas), Demario Eddins (Alabama-Birmingham), Lance Williams (DePaul), Waitari Marsh (Tulane) and Watra Banks (Texas-Pan American).
Another Jackson product is Marquette's Ousmane Barro, who was ruled ineligible at Julian because of his residency. There are also more than 20 players who went on to non-Division I schools.
''I love Julian High School,'' Jackson said. ''I'll always bleed orange and brown. I just needed to step away and make a move. ''I want to help kids and not be restricted in who I help. I always put the kids and academics first.''
Last week, Jackson worked at Reebok's ABCD Camp in Teaneck, N.J. Two of his players, Nyal ''Mac'' Koshwal and Thijin Moses, impressed. Jackson said Koshwal, who played in the underclass (non-senior) all-star game, was the 11th-rated player of the 180 in attendance. He was ruled ineligible by the Public League earlier this year when his birth date and elementary school graduation date came into question. Moses, who was not eligible last season, also played well.
''Those kids can play,'' ABCD director Sonny Vaccaro said. ''I will be supporting Loren's efforts with the new school.''
The prep school figures to take a more prominent role in the wake of the NBA's new collective-bargaining agreement that will force players to be at least 19 and out of high school for a year before they can jump to the league.
Jackson, who has three players from the Bronx, one from West Memphis, Ark., one from Baltimore, one from Brooklyn and one from Georgia, was swamped by coaches at the camp. All seemed to have players looking for a prep school.
Former Harlan standout Clarence Holloway, a 7-foot center who did not qualify academically for a scholarship at Louisville, also is expected at Boys to Men, which is not eligible to participate in the state tournament.
''I could have three teams with all the players that want to come,'' Jackson said.
Boys to Men will play a national schedule that starts Nov. 4 in Michigan. It includes the National Elite Tournament in Atlanta and stops in Rhode Island, Mount Zion in North Carolina, Cincinnati for the Jimmy V Classic and a December tournament in Milwaukee. |
