Tadric Jackson knocked on the door of a state championship for four years. His Tift County team and all of South Georgia knocked for longer than that.
This time, Jackson had a premonition the end was near.
“My senior year came around, and that first month, I knew this was going to be the team,’’ Jackson said. “Everybody knew their role. Everybody knew what it took. We had nine seniors, and they put it in their mind that it’s business.’’
Tift County’s Class AAAAAA title was historic. The most recent South Georgia boys champion in the highest classification was Savannah in 1998. The trophy had remained in metro Atlanta since, almost always held by teams with multiple Division I signees.
Tift County had one such player — Tadric (pronounced TODD-rick) Jackson, a Georgia Tech-bound guard who averaged nearly 25 points for his career until his senior season, when he became a complete player.
In 2013, Tift County was more gifted. Jackson was paired with the state’s top recruit, Brannen Greene, now at Kansas. The Blue Devils were ranked No. 1 entering the quarterfinals, but were upset on their home floor by North Cobb.
“Tough pill to swallow,’’ Jackson said. “Last year’s team, to be honest, we had a talented team, but we didn’t have the chemistry or the want.’’
His coach, Eric Holland, and Jackson agreed about what needed to change.
“As a freshman, Tadric was an offense player,’’ Holland said. “As a senior, his rebounds went from three to six, which means he was competing on the defensive end. He sacrificed shots and trusted teammates. He took on the other team’s best scorer.’’
Jackson averaged 18.8 points on five fewer shots per game. His assists went up. Jackson drew about 20 charges, compared with two the season before.
“It wasn’t about me; it was about the next guy, making him better,’’ Jackson said. “Everybody had seen what I can do. We knew when it was time for me to do me, when the game’s on the line. Then it’s time to show why I’m going to Georgia Tech.’’
That came in the semifinals, when Tift County, more known for defense, got in a shootout with defending state champion Norcross. Jackson scored 35 points. Tift won 78-70.
“He is easily the best player we played or scouted in the state of Georgia this year,’’ Norcross coach Jesse McMillan said. “He was extremely difficult to guard. If you pushed up on him, he would use his size and athleticism to get to the rim, and if you sagged off, he was able to consistently hit the perimeter jump shot.’’
Jackson is a 6-foot-2, 210-pound guard. In the fifth grade, at 5-10, he dunked for the first time in a game. Jackson said he would have been a better baseball player and was clocked with a 91 mph fastball in middle school. He was Tift County’s starting quarterback as a freshman and a sophomore.
In Jackson’s four basketball seasons, Tift County won four region championships and 101 games.
“(State semifinals) as a freshman, (state quarterfinals) as a junior, winning AAAAAA as a senior, all-state four years,’’ Holland said. “When everybody knows you’re the guy, to do the things he’s done, nobody has the body of work that Tadric Jackson does.’’
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