February 7, 2007

     Shamika Jackson's introduction to sports came when she tagged along with her older brother Tyshawn on the playgrounds and fields in the South End of Hartford.
     "I was 5 or 6 and followed him around everywhere," she said. "He played everything - basketball, flag football, roller hockey and baseball. And I was the only girl who played with the guys. Basketball was the sport I loved the most."
     The memories caused Jackson, a starting junior guard for Southern Connecticut (21-1), to pause and bow her head after a recent practice at Moore Fieldhouse in New Haven.
     "At first, he didn't want me around, with me being the only girl there. You know, his little sister with all the guys," Jackson said. "But he really was my protector."
     Big brother had kept an eye on her.
     Today, little sister watches over him.
     Tyshawn is awaiting a heart transplant.
     "I know she goes up to visit him [at Hartford Hospital] as often as she can and whenever we have an off day," Southern coach Joe Frager said. "She has asked three or four times if she could miss a practice. She didn't even have to tell me why."
     Though Southern is ranked No. 5 nationally in Division II, Frager says the No. 1 priority in this situation is clear.
     "Basketball is important," Frager said, "but family comes first."
     Jackson said Tyshawn, 23, has been seen by at least one family member every day since he was hospitalized in September. And usually there's more than one visitor from among his mother, Debra, and siblings Shamika, 21; Taja, 19; Shanice, 17; Marquis, 15; and Montreal, 12.
     One School To Another
     As a single mother, Debra raised six children in Hartford.
     "We moved around quite a few times," Shamika said. "My main focus growing up was to stay out of trouble and to go to school. Other kids weren't going to school. I didn't want to go that route. We'd go to Colt Park a lot. My brother played in rec leagues. He played basketball and football at Bulkeley [High] his freshman year. Basketball was my keepsake and helped me stay out of trouble."
     After her freshman year at East Catholic High School in Manchester, her family moved to that town.
     Jackson, 6-1, blossomed as a basketball player at East. She led her team to its only state titles in 2002 and 2004 (Class M) and is the career scoring leader with 1,821 points. She was a two-time Courant state player of the year and competed in the USA Junior Olympic Festival.
     Tall, thin and quick, she could play guard and forward, even center. She took more satisfaction, though, in making an assist than scoring a field goal.
     "Twenty five shots in a game is not me," she said. "It's almost like an inner passion to find an open teammate. In high school, other teams would focus defensively on me. It made me feel great when they tried to stop me and I got 10 or 11 assists. The pride and happiness my teammates enjoyed when they scored, that's the best."
     UConn was interested in Jackson, but the school had yet to offer her a scholarship when she visited Boston College. She said "she loved it" and signed early with the Eagles.
     But her experience at BC wasn't what she expected.
     "It's a great place. And don't get me wrong, it was a great experience," she said. "But I didn't realize how draining basketball was. It wasn't just the practices and being taxed physically. It was mentally draining. I found myself thinking about basketball all the time.
     "I wasn't comfortable. There was more to life than just basketball."
     Jackson decided to transfer to Southern Connecticut, a member of the Northeast-10 Conference. She averaged 4.8 points in 23 games at BC.
     "I knew Southern was a very good school if you wanted to become a teacher," she said. "I kept asking myself, `What am I going to do after basketball? Where's my future?' I still wanted to play basketball, but later on I want to be a teacher. Southern was the right spot for me."
     She said she had decided sometime in the winter of her freshman season, 2004-05, that she would leave BC and go to Southern. She said that spring was when Tyshawn first experienced problems with his heart.
     "He was going back and forth to the hospital," Jackson said. "He had a defibrillator put in. And he did well with that at first. But then it wasn't working out that well. His problem wasn't something he was born with. It's just heart disease."
     Frager noticed it took Jackson a few months to find her "comfort level" at Southern.
     "I had a chance to see her game develop at AAU, in high school and a little at BC," Frager said. "You don't have to be a genius to see she's very gifted. But with any transfer, there's an adjustment period. For her, there was so much more going on with her brother.
     "She's modest. She's not going to broadcast anything. I've learned to read her facial expressions. You can see it in her eyes when she's down or something is on her mind."
     Basketball, which Jackson says has always been her "keepsake," helped.
     Last season, she averaged 13.1 points to help Southern (29-4) win the NE-10 title and advance to the NCAA Northeast Regional final. The Owls led Division II in scoring defense (44.1).
     This season, they opened with 20 consecutive victories - the best start in school history. After a 57-53 loss Wednesday at St. Rose in Albany, the Owls rebounded at home Tuesday with an 82-43 rout of Merrimack. Jackson had a game-high 19 points as Southern improved its conference record to 17-1.
     Jackson's top offensive attributes are slashing to the basket and passing. But she's talented in other areas, too. She's first on the team in assists (68) and blocks (21), second in scoring (13.8) and steals (46) and third in rebounds (5.4).
     The other starters are junior forward Katie Lynch (16.8 points), senior center Babette Noah (11.2, 9.1 rebounds), junior guard Michelle Martinik (7.4) and junior guard Kaylie Schiavetta (3.2).
     The Owls, third in the nation in points allowed (48.6), seem to move as one on defense. They swarm to the ball, deny passes and contest shots.
    
Keeping Her Perspective
     Jackson, who majors in exercise science-education, says she's comfortable with the balance of basketball and academics at Southern. Her career goal is to be a physical education teacher.
     She doesn't think about basketball all the time, like she seemingly had done at BC. Her competitiveness is the same, though. She wants to play well and win, just like wherever she had played before.
     But when practices and games are over, so is basketball.
     "Basketball is like life. You face adversities and have to try to overcome them," Jackson said.
     She said this philosophy helps her deal with Tyshawn's condition. He is in Hartford Hospital's cardiac unit, she said.
     "Others have it tough," Jackson said. "That's my mind-set when I'm going through something. There's someone else worse out there. ... Talking to friends, they have a family member who's going through cancer suffering or something else. With adversity, I've learned to keep your head on straight, fight and deal with it."
     Tyshawn inspires his sister.
     "Before every game and each half, I cross myself and pray for my brother and everyone else's health," she said. "He's keeping the faith that everything will fall right, and pretty much that everything is in God's hands and he'll get better."
     Jackson said Tyshawn recently was connected to a ventricular assist device (VAD), a mechanical pump that helps a heart pump blood through the body.
     Tyshawn and other patients awaiting heart transplants are on the national transplant waiting list, which is maintained by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) in Richmond, Va.
     The coordinating entity for Northern Connecticut and Central and Western Massachusetts is LifeChoice Donor Services, a federally designated, nonprofit organ procurement organization based in Windsor.
     "There are three basic categories for people awaiting heart transplants," said Chas MacKenzie, education manager for LifeChoice Donor Services. "1A is top priority for people in dire need. 1B is for people on an assisted device who are stable, and 2A is for people who are more stable and aren't on an assisted device."
     Most people waiting for a new heart receive one in less than 12 months, according to the Hartford Hospital Heart Transplant Program web page.
     The UNOS web page Tuesday said there are 2,892 patients nationally awaiting heart transplants. Tyshawn is one of 25 patients awaiting a heart transplant in Connecticut.
     Shamika encourages more people to become organ donors.
     "You don't realize how important it is until it affects someone in your family," she said.
     When she is at Hartford Hospital, the talk inevitably turns to basketball and how the team and Shamika are doing.
     Soon, Tyshawn will see for himself. His doctors have granted him a weekend pass, and he is scheduled to see Southern play Bryant on Feb. 17 at Moore Fieldhouse.
     "Except for walking outside of the hospital a little bit on warmer days, this will be his first time out of the hospital," Jackson said. "He'll have the VAD because it is portable, and my family will be there. I'm going to try to focus on the game, but I know the day will be very emotional for me."

Copyright 2007, Hartford Courant