When it was announced that the Miners would once again be playing in the CBI, the talk around town was that the Miners should not have even entered the tournament; they should have packed up and just called it a season. The tournament was being referred to as the "CBY," as in, "Why are the Miners even in this?"

But myself and thousands of other Miner fans out there, saw it as the "CBY-Not?" Why not play in a postseason tournament? Not every team gets to play in one and it would be great to build upon and gain momentum for next season; Tulsa won the inaugural CBI tournament, and this year they took the next step and made the NIT. Plus, it meant that we would all get to see senior Stefon Jackson play at least one more game.

Thanks to Stefon’s game-winning shot against Nevada (it was only fitting that a UTEP-Nevada game would come down to the final shot), which may be the best game-winning shot in Miner history, UTEP fans then had the honor of watching Stefon play five more times this year. This year’s CBI run was a remarkable way for Stefon Jackson to end his legendary four-year stay at UTEP.

As a freshman, then-Coach Doc Sadler used Stefon Jackson as a spark plug off the bench. Jackson was an excellent defender; he would draw charges, contest shots and make steals. He only averaged eight points per game that season, but in an NIT game against Lipscomb he put up 22 points, giving Miner fans a brief glimpse of the greatness to come.

Jackson became a full-time starter during his sophomore season, doubling his average from 8 PPG to 17.5 as a sophomore. Under first year head coach Tony Barbee, Jackson flourished in his new up-tempo offense. Then as a junior, Jackson once again led the team in scoring with 23.6 PPG, and he also led the team in rebounding. Jackson led a young Miner team to a berth in the inaugural CBI Tournament. He was also named to the First Team All Conference and he was voted as Conference USA’s MVP by CollegeInsider.com

After his junior season, Jackson did something that all Miner fans feared; he entered the NBA Draft. He tested the waters and got a feel for the whole process, but most importantly he did not hire an agent. And you could hear all of El Paso let out a huge sigh of relief when Jackson announced that he would return for his senior year.

Jackson took his game to a whole new stratosphere during this past season. He scored 31 points in the Anaheim Classic against a Wake Forest team that was ranked in the Top 10. His three-point shot was greatly improved, his assists and scoring averages went up and his turnovers declined. Jackson even scored a career high 44 points against Santa Clara University. Jackson proved yet again that he could lead a youthful team into the postseason. He finished his career as one of the greatest Miners of all time. Jackson could be placed in the upper echelon of Miner basketball, with such players as Tim Hardaway, Greg Foster and Antonio Davis, if he carries his collegiate success into the NBA.

The NBA Draft is on June 25th. Stefon Jackson UTEP’s all time leading scorer, and Conference USA’s all time leading scorer has been non existent on every mock draft. But that doesn’t mean that he isn’t on any team’s radar.

Stefon Jackson was invited to the Memphis Grizzlies pre-draft workout at the Coventry Health Care Practice Facility on June 8th. Memphis coaches then invited him to attend another workout on June 9th. On this day, four out of the six players were from Conference USA; Jermaine Taylor from Central Florida, Terrence Roderick from UAB, Memphis’s own Antonio Anderson and Stefon Jackson.

So why would the Grizzlies have so much interest in Jackson? Memphis was one of the lowest scoring teams in the league this year; they finished next to last in scoring with an average 93.8 ppg. Stefon Jackson can definitely help this cause. Or maybe it’s because Jackson reminds the Grizzlies of their former star player Michael Dickerson, who was also 6'5," athletic, and could put up 30 points on any night. Plus the Grizzlies have picks 2, 27 and 36 in this years’ draft, so they will have several chances to draft Jackson. It is highly unlikely that Memphis will draft Jackson with the second pick; although stranger things have happened. One thing that is certain, Memphis won’t be Jackson’s first and only stop.

UTEP’s associate athletic director for media relations Jeff Darby says, “Stefon has workouts scheduled with about 10 teams, and he will be continuing to workout for teams this week and next week.” Darby has kept in touch with Jackson, while Jackson has been training back in his hometown of Philadelphia, and said, “The Oklahoma City Thunder has guaranteed Stefon a spot on their summer league team if he isn’t drafted.”

The Oklahoma City Thunder, the team formerly known as the Seattle Super Sonics; has built a great young nucleus around former All-Americans Kevin Durant and Jeff Green. They also have a spectacular young PG in Russell Westbrook. Take these three rising stars and possibly Hasheem Thabeet or the young Spanish phenom Ricky Rubio, plus Stefon Jackson, and the Thunder could start making some noise in the Western Conference. Another potential spot where Jackson could end up is Golden State. Warriors Coach Don Nelson loves young athletic guards that can make three’s, flat out score and can cause mismatches for the other team. At 6'5" Jackson fits this mold perfectly, plus Don Nelson has had success before with a player from UTEP. Remember Tim Hardaway?

On April 3, 2009, Jackson played his final game as a UTEP Miner; he scored only 26 points. It wasn’t his best performance as a Miner. Because you see Jackson had already given his best performance as a Miner earlier that day. Before the game thousands of Miner fans were lined up outside every entrance of the Don Haskins Center, eager to cheer their Miners to victory. Jackson came outside and took pictures with the fans, shook hands with every single person and also thanked everyone for coming out and supporting the team.

You will never find this performance in any box score, stat sheet, or scouting report. It will never be etched in the record books. This performance will be forever etched in the hearts and memories of El Pasoans.

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David Pacheco was born in San Jose, California, but has lived in El Paso for over 15 years. He's always dreamt of working at Disneyland as a Jungle Cruise Tour Guide, or working for ESPN as a writer. He graduated from UTEP in 2007 with a B.B.A. in Computer Information Systems, and he's never tasted a slice of pizza that he didn’t like. This is his first venture into writing, which we hope will help him reach his ultimate goal of one day becoming a career sports writer.

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