Men's Basketball | 8/21/2019 5:36:00 PM

August 21, 2019-Emporia State's Julius Jackson will become the third Hornet to sign a professional contract with Raiders Basket Jarvenpaa in Finland. He is the third Hornet men's basketball player to sign professionally after this past season. Hassan Thomas signed with Sampaense Basket of Portugal Proliga while Malik Hluchoweckyj signed with KK Bratunac of the Bosnia BiH Liga earlier this summer.

"I would like to say thank you to Emporia State University for giving me the opportunity to further my education and athletic career. It was such an amazing opportunity that I will never take for granted," said Jackson. "Now being able to further my career professionally, I will take all the advice and lessons learned from ESU along with me on this journey to Finland."

Jackson averaged 17.0 points and 2.7 rebounds per game for the Hornets as a senior in 2018-19.  The 6-0 guard shot .474 from the field and ..437 from behind the three-point line and made a team high 134 free throws in 166 attempts for an .807 free throw percentage. He was named MIAA Player of the Week after averaging 24.0 points in wins over Central Oklahoma and Northeastern State.   
 
"Julius' journey to professional basketball is one of perseverance, growing up, development, and star power," said Emporia State head coach Craig Doty. "We refused to not hold Julius to a high standard this season because we had such great belief in his abilities. While this resulted in sporadic minutes and frustration throughout the first half of the season for him, during the second half of the season it showed that Julius could take everything to the next level."
 
He scored in double figures in each of his final 13 games, reaching at least 20 points in 12 of those games.  For the season he had 14 games with at least 20 points, two 30 point games and an Emporia State career high 38 points against eventual national champion Northwest Missouri in the MIAA Tournament.  He scored 21 straight points for the Hornets during the first half against the Bearcats and had eight points in 84 seconds to tie the game at 71 with 2:21 left in the contest.  
 
"As an individual scorer, I have coached no one better than Julius in my seven years as a head college coach," said Doty. "Not only can he score it from three point, the mid-range and in the paint, he gets to the line at a prolific rate which puts additional pressure on opposing teams. He also shoots great percentages which allows him to be one of the most efficient players on the court each night he suits up."
 
He averaged 23.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game and was fifth in NAIA Division II in points per game at Presentation (SD) in 2017-18. He had a season high 41 points on 17 of 25 shooting against Dickinson State in a stretch where he scored at least 30 points in four straight games. Prior to Presentation he played at Weatherford College and Trinity Valley College in Texas.

"My expectations are nothing less than being great. Having said that, my goals heading into this year are to be the best player and teammate I can be," said Jackson.

Jackson will leave for Finland next week.  Raiders Basket Jarvenpaa competes in the first division league in Finland.  They have a 24 game regular season schedule that runs from October to March, with exhibition games starting in September and post season games in April.  They were 24-7 last season and won their league championship.
 
This is the first time in school history the Hornets have had three players from the same class sign to play professionally in the same year.

"We are proud of Julius, Malik and Hassan for signing professional basketball contracts and taking the next steps in their journey," said Doty. "We are also proud of our other seniors who have entered the workforce and will be making an impact and living out their dreams in the non-basketball professional world. Being a student-athlete, specially at Emporia State, is special and life-changing."

Emporia State ended the season 14-16, 8-11 in the MIAA, an improvement of five wins overall from last season and double their conference wins.  The 14 wins under Coach Craig Doty are tied for the second most by a first year Hornet coach. Their season ended with an 82-79 loss to #1 Northwest Missouri in the MIAA Tournament, the closest game for the national champion Bearcats during the post-season.
 
###HORNETS###