University of Detroit Mercy Athletics

Former Titan standout point guard Jermaine Jackson '99 joined the Titan staff for the 2015-16 season and remained on staff under former head coach Bacari Alexander '99 and was named the Titan interim head coach before the arrival of Mike Davis. 

Jackson - who also carries the title of recruiting coordinator - just finished his third season as an assistant coach at his alma mater. 

In his first year as an assistant coach, Jackson was instrumental in bringing in two freshmen that contributed immediately to the program in Gerald Blackshear and Josh McFolley. McFolley would go on to earn Horizon League All-Freshman Team honors.
 
His work with the guards was also evident in Carlton Brundidge’s senior campaign as he recorded career highs in almost every statistical category and ended the year second on the team in assists (2.3), and fourth in scoring (10.5) and rebounding (4.1). 

In 2016-17, his work with the guards was evident as McFolley saw all his stats increase and finish 13th in the HL in scoring. Freshman guard Corey Allen was the Horizon League Freshman of the Year and the highest scoring freshman in the HL at 14.4 points per game, second on the team and 11th in the conference. The Titan guards also posted more assists than turnovers on the season as a unit. 

In 2017, he held guide Corey Allen to the Horizon League Freshman of the Year. Allen was the highest scoring freshman in the HL at 14.4 points per game, second on the team and 11th in the conference, and ended the season with 432 points, the third-most by a freshman in school history behind Ray McCallum's 446 in 2010 and John Long's 445 in 1975.

The backcourt of Allen and McFolley combined to hit 149 treys in 2016-17 as Allen was third in the league and 78th in the nation with 2.60 three-point field goals per game. His 78 triples on the season were third in the conference and eighth in the school record book. McFolley was second on the Titans and fifth in the HL with 2.3, 3-pointers per game as he connected on a career-best 71 triples, 13th in school history. 

A 2010 Detroit Mercy Hall of Fame inductee and two-time All-Horizon League standout, Jackson earned four letters at the University from 1995-99 and is 20th all-time in scoring with 1,341 career points. He is also fifth in school history with 509 assists and ninth tallying 142 steals.

He was named the Horizon League Player of the Year in 1999 after averaging 13.9 ppg., and leading the Titans to a 25-6 record and a HL Championship. In his senior season, the two-time All-League honoree netted a team-high 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds as he helped put Detroit in the national spotlight when the 12th-seeded Titans upset fifth-seeded UCLA, 56-53, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
Just a year earlier, he was part of a Titan squad that ended a 19-year NCAA hiatus as the red, white and blue shocked the 10th seed and senior-laden St. John's squad, 66-64.

Born and raised in Detroit, the product of Finney High School went on to play in the NBA for five seasons, appearing in 135 games with five teams (Detroit, Toronto, Atlanta, New York & Milwaukee) before taking his career overseas. He also played in the CBA and the USBL as well as in Italy, Greece, Spain, Mexico and Israel. He was also selected to the all-star game while competing in the Israeli Basketball League.

Jackson also received the prestigious John Conti Letterman of Distinction Award on February 8, 2015, presented to former Titan varsity athletes who go above and beyond at work and in the community.
 
In 2012, he opened the Jermaine Jackson-Cairns Community Center in Mount Clemens. The center has after-school tutoring, fitness classes and food assistance programs for those of all ages.