After disapointing season, Jackson lone standout for panthers in post season honors
Florida Tech forward Corbin Jackson collected the Sunshine State Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year award for the third consecutive year to go along with back-to-back Second Team All-SSC honors
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Corbin Jackson’s name will yet again be plastered on postseason hardware after the Florida Tech forward collected the Sunshine State Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year award for the third consecutive year to go along with back-to-back Second Team All-SSC honors, announced by the league office this week.
“It is almost impossible to three-peat in a major award,” said Florida Tech head coach Billy Mims. “It shows two things. First is the consistency of performance that Corbin Jackson has brought to the court. Second is the respect that the coaches have around the league for him. His presence will be remembered on SSC courts for quite some time.”
The recognition shouldn’t come as much surprise for Jackson, who’s averaged a double-double for his career, including 14.8 points, a league-leading 9.6 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in 25 contests as a redshirt senior.
In addition, the Viera High School product has recorded 25 steals, while topping the SSC in field goal percentage (.634).
Billy Mims
“I am sure the rest of the Sunshine State Conference coaches are glad to see Corbin leave so someone else can win the award,” Mims added. “He has owned the award. It is a pretty amazing feat.”
Jackson followed up his 15 double-doubles from a year ago with another 11 in 2015-16 to tie for the most in the SSC with Player of the Year Yunio Barrueta and Tray Leonard. His 3.28 offensive rebounds per game also ranked 24th in all of NCAA Division II.
The accolades join a laundry list of accomplishments that Jackson has compiled throughout his three-year career as a Panther, namely being previously selected 2013-14 Daktronics All-Region and Sporting News Preseason All-American prior to the start of this year.
“He has been blessed with incredible athleticism and plays hard every second he’s on the court,” said Mims. “That’s why he’s going to be a very talented professional player. He’s always been a talented player, with a lot of natural God-given talent, but he has grown so much. He has matured so much as an individual, both on and off the court.”
Corbin Jackson
Florida Tech’s season ended Wednesday night in the Sunshine State Conference tournament with a 95-70 loss in St. Petersburg. As a number seven seed, the Panthers were unable to spring the upset vs. second seed, Eckerd.
FIT finished the season 14-15, its worst finish since the 2008-09 season
Player of the Year = Yunio Barrueta, Barry Defensive Player of the Year = Corbin Jackson, Florida Tech Newcomer of the Year = Elvar Fridriksson, Barry Freshman of the Year = Pat Bacon, Tampa Coach of the Year = Tom Ryan, Eckerd
2016 ALL-SSC Men’s Basketball Honors
First Team Pos.
F
G
G
G
FSecond Team Pos.
F
G
F
G/F
C
Newcomer Team Pos.
G
G
G
F
G/F
Name
Yunio Barrueta*^%
Marcus Dewberry
Chris Page*#%
Dylan Travis+
Jeff Merton
Corbin Jackson~%
Dominique Williams
Fred Landers
Jerrick Stevenson
Harrison Goodrick
Elvar Fridriksson
Pat Bacon
Tyreece Brice
Caleb Stewart
Drushaun McLaurn
School
Barry
Saint Leo
Nova Southeastern
Florida Southern
Rollins
Florida Tech
Florida Southern
Lynn
Eckerd
Nova Southeastern
Barry
Tampa
Saint Leo
Saint Leo
Eckerd
