March 8, 2010
Notre Dame, Ind. – Notre Dame point guard Tory Jackson (Saginaw, Mich.) has received the 2010 BIG EAST Sportsmanship Award, recognizing the senior for the contributions he has made on the court and the manner with which he has carried himself throughout his career.
While most often noticed for the passion and toughness he takes to the court, Jackson also has found himself among the program’s career leaders in several statistical categories. He currently ranks second on Notre Dame’s career assists list (675) and became the school’s 50th player to reach the 1,000-point plateau (1,194 points). He ranks as one of only two players in school history with better than 1,000 points and 600 assists. He has played in all 132 games of his collegiate career and made 118 starts while averaging 32.9 minutes per game. When he takes to the floor on Wednesday night (March 10) in the second round of the BIG EAST Championship against either Seton Hall or Providence, he will tie the Notre Dame games played record of 133 contests set by Matt Carroll from 1999-03.
Providing the steadying hand though out the season, Jackson also managed to set new career highs in points (25 vs. Seton Hall), three-point field goals (four vs. Seton Hall), assists (15 vs. Syracuse) and even minutes (50 vs. Louisville in double overtime). He has been at his best during the team’s four-game winning streak to cap the season, highlighted by seven assists in a win over Pittsburgh and 22 points against Connecticut on Senior Night (March 3) that included 20 points in the second half.
The 5-11 captain is averaging 9.7 points and 5.4 assists this season. In league games, he finished first in the BIG EAST in assists with 5.6 per game. As a freshman and sophomore, he also led the conference in assists and is one of just two players in BIG EAST history to capture three assist crowns.
Jackson’s numbers resonate outside the program records books, as well. Nationally, Jackson has ranked in the top-15 in assist-to-turnover ratio throughout the season, while helping Notre Dame lead the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio as a team. He ranks fifth all-time with 392 career assists in BIG EAST play.
This marks the second time a Notre Dame player has received the BIG EAST Sportsmanship Award, as Jackson joins another Irish point guard, Chris Quinn, who won the award in 2006. It also marks the 12th time Notre Dame has received a major postseason award from the league. Pat Garrity (1996-97 Player of the Year, 1997-98 Scholar-Athlete Award), Troy Murphy (1998-99 Rookie of the Year, 1999-2000 & 2000-01 Player of the Year), Chris Thomas (2001-02 Rookie of the Year), Luke Harangody (2007-08 Player of the Year), John MacLeod (1996-97 Coach of the Year) and current Irish head coach Mike Brey (2006-07 & 2007-08 Coach of the Year) have all brought home hardware during past seasons.
Notre Dame concluded the regular season with a record of 21-10, 10-8 in the BIG EAST and earned the tournament’s number seven seed overall after finishing in a tie for seventh place with Georgetown. The Irish won the tiebreaker with the Hoyas by virtue of their win (78-64) in the only regular-season meeting between the two teams.
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