When Taiyanna Jackson was a junior at Kansas, she became the first Jayhawk to be named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team. One of the nation's leading shot blockers, Jackson has established herself as one of the best defensive anchors in college basketball as March Madness has tipped-off.
She averaged 3.1 blocks per game this season across 31 games. She had a season-high nine blocked against Houston on Feb. 8. During the Jayhawks 81-72 win in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, she may have only had one block, but she made her presence felt, especially late in the game in deterring Michigan's shots around the basket.
Jackson may look slight, but she's strong and mobile. Her defense is going to be crucial to Kansas' March Madness hopes. The defensive end is something she takes pride in and loves to do.
“I love defense, I love changing people's shot selection and making them stop coming down there. I just love defense,” Jackson told ClutchPoints in an exclusive interview. “I'll be talking stuff behind it too so it just really gets me going.”
Taiyanna Jackson is in her third season at Kansas, and fifth playing college basketball. While she's become one of the best anchors in the game, it's been a long journey to get to this point. Jackson's knack for defense has always been evident, but she had to prove herself out of high school starting out at Trinity Valley Community College in the JuCo ranks.
Jackson had been committed to Ole Miss, but opted to go the junior college route. While at Trinity Valley she won the National Junior College Athletics Association (NJCAA) Freshman of the Year Award for the 2019-20 season. Across the duration of two seasons at Trinity Valley, she averaged 10.3 points per game, 12.8 rebounds and 3.7 blocked shots.
Amongst the high school basketball ranks, junior college is often downplayed despite how many players from the JuCo ranks have gone on to play Division 1 basketball. But for Jackson, it was an experience she'll always cherish.
“People downplay JuCo so bad, but it's kind of the same. I'm not saying the same competition level, but we have great players within a conference,” Jackson said. “It was a good decision. You can go there, you can play basketball, you can have fun but also you're reopening your recruitment to find a place where you would be really happy at. I loved JuCo.”
When Taiyanna Jackson transferred to Kansas, she made an immediate impact. It was that season, in 2021-22, that she became the first Kansas player to be named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team. During that season, she set a Jayhawks record at the time for the most blocks in a single season with 95. Jackson would break her own record the following season with 109 blocked shots.
During the 2022-23 season as a senior, Jackson helped lead Kansas to the WNIT and won the tournament MVP. That season, she was named to her second consecutive Big 12 All-Defensive Team and was on the watchlist for the Naismith Women's Defensive Player of the Year.
The transition to Division 1 basketball can be a tough one, but Jackson credits her time playing junior college basketball for being a key reason why she had such a seamless transition once she arrived at Kansas.
“It prepared me on the mental said. You go through it in JuCo. You don't have everything that D1 has,” Jackson said. “And then just coming here, I'm just so grateful for everything that I got here and everything that I was able to do. But I couldn't do it without my teammates though.”
But it's not just on the defensive end that Taiyanna Jackson has been able to make an impact for Kansas. She's been an efficient scoring threat as well. Jackson doesn't need the ball in her hands to be effective. She shoots a high percentage attacking the offensive glass, rolling to the rim, making strong cuts and just generally making herself available for her teammates.
Jackson has averaged double digits in scoring during each of the past two seasons at 15.2 points and 12.7 points respectively. In the Jayhawks' March Madness win against Michigan, she scored 14 points including several clutch baskets in the fourth quarter when Kansas rallied back to force overtime.
Jackson holds a career mark of 62.3 percent shooting from the field over her three seasons at Kansas. She's never shot under 58 percent in a single season. She doesn't take three-point shots, she knows what she's good at and she stays within her game.
“I just bring so much attention to myself and that just helps get my teammates open and helps get them shots,” Jackson said. “It's really anything I can do to help us win. I'm really not tripping on how many points I score or how many rebounds, I just want to do anything to help my team win at this point.”
Kansas has at least one more game in March Madness this season, a round of 32 clash against No. 1 USC and freshman sensation JuJu Watkins. But regardless of what happens in that game, this is the last dance for Jackson. She used her fifth year of eligibility this season and will finish up her college basketball career whenever the Jayhawks' season ends.
And as she reflects on the last five years, she can't help but show a little emotion when talking about what college has meant to her.
“I've had so much fun, literally. I've learned so much and I've changed as a person throughout college. It was a long ride I would say, it was a long ride,” Jackson said. “A long, joyful ride with a lot of things coming at me. . .but I love storms here and there. . .it's something I would do again, I love it at KU. I loved my JuCo team, I loved both of the colleges I went to. If I could do it again I would.”
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