Dante Jackson: The guy UD loves to hate

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By Tom Archdeacon, Staff Writer 11:38 PM Thursday, March 11, 2010

ATLANTIC CITY — If you are part of the Dayton Flyers basketball team, you almost never know what to expect from Xavier’s Dante Jackson:

• When he was a high school star in Greenfield, UD coaches Brian Gregory and Billy Schmidt recruited him hard and in the process, he said he “fell in love with their coaching staff.”

And when he and UD’s Chris Wright became road roommates on the same Cincinnati AAU team and then good friends — and Flyer great Bill Uhl Sr., also from Greenfield, had family singing Dayton’s praises to him — it seemed natural when Jackson said he decided he wanted to be a Flyer.

And then he chose Xavier.

• Two months ago, he came into Xavier’s game with Dayton averaging 6.1 points. But then he hit 5-of-8 three-point attempts, had a career-high 19 points, the Musketeers won by four and he was named the game’s MVP for the second straight year.

Last season, coming off a game in which he’d scored just two points, he promptly scored the Musketeers’ first 11 against visiting UD, ending up with a game-high 14 and that other MVP award.

• Over the years, Jackson has become the Xavier player Dayton loves to hate. When UD was trouncing the Muskies 90-65 last month at UD Arena, Jackson remembers a Flyer fan yelling at him: “Hope you’re enjoying the butt-kicking!”

On the court, he’s had UD players tell him, “You talk too much.” A Dayton media type walked into Boardwalk Hall here Thursday, March 11 — after Xavier had finished practice for its Atlantic 10 tournament game with Dayton tonight — heard Jackson’s name and huffed: “He’s a punk.”

Yet just before that, Jackson had sat for several minutes quietly praising all things UD. He talked about his friendship with Wright and how much he likes Gregory and admitted he treasures those two MVP trophies and gave them to his mom for safe-keeping.

“He’s a real class act,” Wright said. “After our game down there, he came over and hugged my mom and asked about my brother.”

Gregory was complimentary, too. He likes Jackson’s moxie, toughness and leadership: “He would’ve been a good fit for us.”

Instead, to Flyers fans, he’s the most disliked Musketeer.

“To be honest, I never set out to have that role,” he said. “But now that I have it, I love it. There’s no greater feeling than to be the guy they all hate.”

And he said he owes a debt of thanks to those fans who needled him at UD Arena. He said they reinforced the postgame message from Xavier coach Chris Mack: “Before that game, we thought we had all the answers and could do no wrong. UD made us look in the mirror.”

Since that Feb. 6 thumping, Xavier has won seven straight — including victories over Florida, Saint Louis and Richmond — and takes a No. 24 ranking and a 23-7 record into tonight’s game.

“The things I feel about Dayton off the court will change once I step between the lines with them,” Jackson smiled. “Then it’s a whole different mind-set. During the game, I really do despise them. That’ll never change.”

Every once in a while, you know just what to expect from Dante Jackson.

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