A familiar face has taken charge of Pleasant Hill's boys basketball team.
Former Creswell and University of Oregon star Luke Jackson, who joined the Billies' staff as a volunteer assistant last season, was hired as head coach in May after the resignation of Darwin Terry.
“I was pretty happy being an assistant coach and not having the lion's share of the coaching aspect,” Jackson said. “All the parents kind of got together and asked if I would do it. My wife wanted me to do it, which is the most important thing. So I said, 'Let's give it a shot.'”
Jackson lives between Pleasant Hill and Creswell with his wife Lindsey, sons Cole, 13, and Cal, 11, and daughter Ruthie, 6. His sons play in Pleasant Hill's youth program and he has become acquainted with many Pleasant Hill families through his church. He joined the Billies coaching staff at the request of Terry, a friend for more than a decade.
Jackson still financially supports the Creswell program – “If anyone's a Bulldog, it's me,” he said – but he has relished integrating into the Pleasant Hill community.
“It's a little bit odd because it's a rival for Creswell, and it's like joining the dark side,” Jackson said. “But with what Darwin Terry had done, there are a lot of really positive things in place to kind of take over and hit the ground running. I'm at the gym already with my boys, I might as well just coach the high school team.”
The 6-foot-7 Jackson finished his college career as Oregon's No. 2 all-time leading scorer. He was picked No. 10 overall in the 2004 NBA Draft by Cleveland and had a four-year career, during which he was tormented by back injuries.
But Jackson also has proven himself as a coach. In five seasons (2013-18) as the coach at Northwest Christian College (now Bushnell University), he led the team to three appearances in the NAIA Division II national tournament. He was twice named coach of the year in the Cascade Conference.
“We took a program that was kind of at the bottom to winning the league back-to-back years,” Jackson said.
Jackson said he had opportunities to coach Division I programs and came close to accepting the job at Valparaiso (Ind.), but instead decided to coach his sons.
“That's a decision I haven't regretted,” Jackson said. “Just about every night I drive around and pick kids up, take them to the gym, go get ice cream afterwards. And I think that would've been something I wouldn't have been allowed to do had I followed that D-I track. I wouldn't necessarily rule it out long term, but I'm really excited about coaching in high school.”
Jackson calls himself a “basketball lifer,” training players of all levels for the past two decades. He has stayed connected to the Oregon basketball scene, often attending the 3A tournament in Coos Bay.
“It's one of my favorite state tournaments to go to,” he said. “I'm excited to coach in that environment. I'm not doing it for me, it's just about the kids. I'm excited about coaching the kids and being a positive role model.”
Terry went 59-20 in three seasons at Pleasant Hill, leading the team to the 3A tournament in 2022 and 2023. This season, Jackson can build around 6-4 senior guard Gavin Inglish, who averaged 22 points in leading the Billies to a 20-5 record in 2023-24.
Jackson said Pleasant Hill will make up for a lack of size with its quickness, shooting and unselfish style. He said the Billies remind him of Creswell's 2004 state title team, which featured his brother, Joey Jackson.
The 3A field should be more open this season after the graduation of Cascade Christian 7-footer Austin Maurer, who led the Challengers to a three-peat.
“I was really impressed with him as a player and a kid, but I'm not upset that he's gone at all,” Jackson said of Maurer. “I think there's a top five or six, and then everyone else. We're hoping to break into that group.”
As an NBA lottery pick, expectations were high for Jackson in Cleveland, where he played alongside a young LeBron James. But he suffered herniated discs in his back on his first day of summer league practice and was unable to regain his form. He went on to have 17 back surgeries.
“I never had a healthy game in the NBA,” he said. “My body just kind of failed me. I was born with stenosis in my lower back, and I didn't know that. It was fine until it wasn't. I played through a lot of pain.”
Even though Jackson was paid for seven seasons in the NBA, and he had one-year stints playing in Italy and Israel, he said his career was “heartbreaking.”
“I made enough to buy a house and have some security, but I really, really just wanted one year to prove myself,” Jackson said. “LeBron got so much attention, I could've just stood out there all day and knocked down shots. But my worst fear was if a ball was on the ground and I had to bend over to pick it up. I just had no mobility, and I had horrible sciatic pain.
“I still deal with it. I'm actually technically disabled from the nerve issues. I fight through it.”
Jackson said his sons have a promising future in basketball. They are tall for their age, and considering his wife is 5-10, “it'll be interesting to see how tall they get,” he said.
The boys have basketball influences on both sides of the family. Lindsey's father, Steve Masten, won 226 games in 17 seasons as the coach at McKay, Cascade and Sprague. Her brother, Adam, was a standout at Sprague and played at Oregon State.
Basketball will take up much of Jackson's time this winter. Not only will he coach at Pleasant Hill and be involved with his sons, but he has agreed to broadcast some Oregon home games.
“I thought I could get away from the game, but it just draws me back in,” Jackson said.
