Rickea Jackson

Rickea Velece Jackson (born March 16, 2001) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball at Tennessee and Mississippi State.

High school career
Jackson played basketball for Detroit Edison Public School Academy in Detroit, Michigan. She led her team to three consecutive Class C state titles. As a senior, Jackson averaged 22 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, earning Michigan Miss Basketball honors and being selected to the McDonald's All-American Game and Jordan Brand Classic. She was named Michigan Gatorade Player of the Year for a second time. Jackson left as the program's all-time leading scorer, with 1,771 points. Mick McCabe of the Detroit Free Press considered her the greatest girls high school player in state history. Rated a five-star recruit and the fifth-best player in her class by ESPN, she committed to play college basketball for Mississippi State over offers from South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Rutgers, Ohio State and Louisville.

College career
On February 20, 2020, Jackson scored a freshman season-high 34 points for Mississippi State in a 92–85 win against Auburn in overtime. As a freshman, she averaged 15.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, earning second-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) and All-Freshman honors. Jackson won the Gillom Trophy as the top women's college player in Mississippi. In her sophomore season, she averaged 14.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. On December 1, 2021, Jackson scored a career-high 40 points in a 102–55 win over McNeese State.

In January 2022, she entered the transfer portal, averaging an SEC-best 20.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in her junior season. Jackson announced on March 22, 2022, that she would transfer to Tennessee. On March 3, 2023, she scored a senior season-high 34 points in an 80–71 win over Kentucky at the SEC tournament, setting the tournament single-game scoring record. As a senior, Jackson averaged 19.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game and was named first-team All-SEC. Despite being a projected first-round pick in the 2023 WNBA draft, she returned to Tennessee for a fifth season of eligibility, granted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She averaged 20.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game and repeated as a first-team All-SEC selection.

Professional career
On April 15, 2024, Jackson was selected by the Los Angeles Sparks, via the Seattle Storm, as the fourth overall pick in the 2024 WNBA draft.

National team career
Jackson represented the United States alongside her Mississippi State teammates at the 2019 Summer Universiade in Italy. She led the tournament with 22.2 points per game and won a silver medal. Jackson won a silver medal at the 2023 FIBA Women's AmeriCup in Mexico, where she averaged a team-high 14.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, earning all-tournament honors.

In 3x3 basketball, Jackson played at the 2019 FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup in Mongolia, where she helped her team win the gold medal and was named to the all-tournament team.

College

 * style="text-align:left;"| 2019–20
 * style="text-align:left;"| Mississippi State
 * 33 || 27 || 30.1 || 48.3 ||41.9|| 72.4 || 5.1 || 1.2 || 0.8 || 0.6 || 2.5 || 15.1
 * style="text-align:left;"| 2020–21
 * style="text-align:left;"| Mississippi State
 * 19 || 16 || 31.6 || 42.0 ||29.5|| 54.7 || 4.4 || 2.0 || 0.7 || 0.4 || 2.9 || 14.9
 * style="text-align:left;"| 2021–22
 * style="text-align:left;"| Mississippi State
 * 15 || 15 || 34.9 || 41.0 ||24.3|| 73.0 || 6.8 || 1.1 || 0.9 || 1.5 || 1.8 || 20.3
 * style="text-align:left;"| 2022–23
 * style="text-align:left;"| Tennessee
 * 35 || 24 || 28.3 || 54.8 || 31.4 || 79.2|| 6.1 || 1.4 || 0.8 || 0.5 || 2.6 || 19.2
 * style="text-align:left;"| 2023–24
 * style="text-align:left;"| Tennessee
 * 25 || 24|| 31.5 || 48.5|| 33.8 || 78.0 || 8.2 || 2.3 || 0.7 || 0.2 || 2.9 ||20.2
 * - class="sortbottom"
 * style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
 * 127||106||30.7||47.9||30.9||74.2||6.1||1.6||0.8||0.6||2.6||17.8
 * - class="sortbottom"
 * style="text-align:center;" colspan="14"|Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference.
 * - class="sortbottom"
 * style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
 * 127||106||30.7||47.9||30.9||74.2||6.1||1.6||0.8||0.6||2.6||17.8
 * - class="sortbottom"
 * style="text-align:center;" colspan="14"|Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference.