A Look at All Mid-Major SG, Stefon Jackson

Every since his freshman year, UTEP fans knew that Stefon Jackson was a special player.

When given the chance to play significant minutes (which happened a lot more towards the end of the season), Jackson put up a healthy heap of points, despite not doing much else to fill up the stat sheet.

But since then, his playing time has gone up, and as a result, point totals have drastically increased along with his rebounding and passing numbers.

Jackson is not your typical three-point bomber though (like most guards who score over 20 ppg). In fact, in 18 games this season, he has only shot a total of 54 threes, demonstrating that he prefers to take it to the hoop and get fouled.

But, his stunning mid-range shot and quick release certainly make up for the absense of a three-point threat. And on a team that scores over 78 ppg, it certainly is not hard to bury teams with fast break points.

This 2007-08 C-USA First Team member has seen his team struggle through a number of games.

UTEP’s conference is MUCH more talented and certainly deeper than last season—all but three teams have overall records at .500 or above. Memphis is still ahead of the pack, but Houston and UAB could make for some tough games, and UTEP won’t have it easy this year.

A loss to Santa Clara as well as a 12-point beat down to New Mexico St. definitely doesn't help their case for a tournament bid, and even though Arizona State has been impressive this season, a 30-point loss on a neutral floor is simply inexcusable.

Yet the Miners really don't have a glaring weakness. Sophomore guard Randy Culpepper has assisted Jackson in scoring (19.8 ppg) and they have above average marks in defensive and offensive efficiency. However, the efforts of Jackson and Culpepper might not be enough to power them through this tough conference.

Despite what could be a rough year, Jackson’s ability to flat out score is what makes him one of the best shooting guards in the country. He is currently 9th in the nation in scoring (23.3 ppg) on a remarkable 1.38 points per shot and pulls down close to six rebounds per game.

Anyone who has not seen him play gets one last chance to on Feb.21 (Bracket Busters weekend!) against Memphis on ESPN.

Even if we don’t get to see UTEP in the tournament this season, we will surely see Jackson’s name called in the 09 NBA Draft. He is one of the most capable scoring guards in this draft, and with a three-point shot, could become a huge problem for defenders.

Keep an eye on him for the remainder of the season because his scoring is critical to UTEP’s success.