Tammy Jackson

Tammy Jackson
Tammy Eloise Jackson (born December 3, 1962) is an American former college and professional basketball player who was a center in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) for six seasons in the 1990s and early 2000s. Jackson played college basketball for the University of Florida, and played professionally for the Houston Comets and Washington Mystics of the WNBA. She is an Olympic bronze medalist.
Early years
Jackson grew up in Gainesville, Florida. She attended Buchholz High School in Gainesville, where she played high school basketball for the Buchholz Bobcats.
College career
After graduating from high school, Jackson accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, where she played for the Florida Gators women's basketball team from 1982 to 1985. During her four years as a Gators, she scored 1,895 points, completed almost 56 percent of her shots from the floor, recovered 1,141 rebounds, and blocked 121 shots on defense. She was a three-time first-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) selection, and a senior team captain. She remains the third leading all-time scorer in Lady Gators basketball history.
Jackson was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1995, and honored again as an "SEC Great" in 2003. Jackson graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in health and human performance in 2007.
Florida statistics
Source
Professional career
After her college playing career was over, she played in various international leagues due to the lack of women's professional basketball leagues in the United States. Jackson was a member of the United States women's national basketball teams that won a world championship in 1990, and a bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics.
When the WNBA began play in 1997, the Houston Comets picked Jackson in the second round (16th overall pick) of the 1997 WNBA draft. Her debut game was played on June 21, 1997 in a 76 - 56 win over the Cleveland Rockers where she recorded 5 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals. Jackson was a member of the inaugural WNBA championship team when the Comets defeated the New York Liberty. After her rookie season, Jackson was drafted by the Mystics on February 18, 1998 in an Expansion Draft and played only two games for the team before waived on June 23, 1998.
Jackson would be picked up by the Comets soon after and played her return game for them on June 29 (6 days after being waived by the Mystics). She would go on to win 3 more championships with the Comets, as the team won the 1998, 1999 and 2000 WNBA Finals. She continued as a player for the Comets for the 2001 and 2002 season, but only played 5 games in the 2002 season (with her first game not being until July 30, two weeks before the regular season ended). Her final WNBA game ever was played on August 13, 2002 in a 63 - 51 win over the Minnesota Lynx where she recorded 2 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals.
Jackson ended her career as a 4x WNBA champion, playing a total of 143 career games (141 of them with the Comets) and averaging 2.8 points and 2.8 rebounds.
See also
List of Florida Gators in the WNBA
List of Olympic medalists in basketball
List of University of Florida alumni
List of University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame members
List of University of Florida Olympians
References
External links
Tammy Jackson – Official WNBA player profile
1962 births
Living people
American expatriate basketball people in Italy
American expatriate basketball people in Japan
American expatriate basketball people in Spain
American expatriate basketball people in Sweden
American women's basketball players
Basketball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Basketball players from Gainesville, Florida
Centers (basketball)
Florida Gators women's basketball players
Houston Comets players
Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in basketball
Washington Mystics players
United States women's national basketball team players
Goodwill Games gold medalists
Goodwill Games medalists in basketball
Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games