Road to Duke
Franklin Willis Jackson was born on May 4, 1998, in Washington, D.C., the second-oldest of five children in a family that would eventually stretch across the country and across faiths. His father, Alvin B. Jackson, grew up in Buford, South Carolina, and Silver Spring, Maryland, played basketball and baseball at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, earned an MBA from Johns Hopkins, and worked in national security consulting and the aerospace industry — a vice president at Boeing subsidiary Insitu. His mother, Juleen, had roots in Utah. The family lived in D.C. and then Hood River, Oregon, before relocating to the town of Lehi, Utah, when Frank was eleven years old.
The Jacksons were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — Alvin had converted at an inner-city church in D.C. in 1992, drawn to a congregation diverse in color and class, where he coached a youth basketball team and stayed in touch with the fatherless boys he mentored for years afterward. Frank grew up surrounded by his faith, and like nearly every LDS kid in Utah County, he assumed he would serve a two-year mission after high school. It was not a question. It was the natural progression.
But first, there was basketball. Alvin coached Frank from age six, dragging him to the church gym at 6 a.m. before school. Frank played baseball, football, golf, and basketball — his father insists baseball was his best sport — but basketball was fastest, and fastest was what Frank wanted. As a freshman at Lehi High School, he averaged 10.1 points per game and scored 30 in a game against powerhouse Lone Peak. That performance caught the attention of Lone Peak coach Quincy Lewis, and Frank transferred before his sophomore year.
At Lone Peak, everything accelerated. As a sophomore in 2013-14, Jackson averaged 17.9 points and helped the Knights win the Utah 5A state championship — their fourth consecutive title, a first in state history. As a junior, he exploded: 26.9 points per game, a 54-point outburst against Clark County at the Jerry Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas that set a school record, and an invitation to the NBPA Top 100 Camp. At the Under Armour Elite 24 in New York, he scored 20 points with a jaw-dropping 360-degree fastbreak dunk that went viral on the broadcast. His AAU coach with the Utah Prospects compared him to Russell Westbrook at the same age.
Jackson had committed to BYU at age fourteen — a proud basketball school eighteen miles from home, the natural choice for a Mormon kid from Alpine. But as his profile rose, so did his ambition. He later recalled attending the NBPA camp and hearing other kids talk about being recruited by Duke, Georgetown, and North Carolina. 'I was kinda sitting back like, I can compete with all these kids. Why can't I get the attention they're getting?' In November 2014, he decommitted from BYU and reopened his recruitment.
The decision was seismic in Utah. Jackson wasn't just changing schools; he was changing a life plan. A Mormon player leaving BYU for a national powerhouse meant confronting the mission question head-on. Coaches from Duke, Arizona, Stanford, Maryland, UCLA, and Utah all came calling. Coach K and two assistants flew to Alpine for dinner at the Jackson home. Frank's parents were sold by June 2015. Frank took a little longer.
On September 1, 2015, he committed to Duke. As a senior, he averaged 28.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.0 assists, was named Utah Mr. Basketball, Utah Gatorade Player of the Year, and Salt Lake Tribune Player of the Year. He finished his high school career with 2,079 points — sixth in Utah history. He was named a McDonald's All-American — the first from Utah in sixteen years — and won the McDonald's All-American dunk contest, sharing game co-MVP honors after scoring 19 points. He was the best player to come out of Utah in a generation, and he was headed 2,000 miles from home to play for Coach K.
The mission question lingered. His best friend, Will Watanabe, would board a flight to Tokyo the day after Jackson's Duke debut at Madison Square Garden, beginning a two-year mission with no smartphone, no social media, and only two phone calls home per year. Jackson chose a different path. 'I'm in the spotlight,' he told ESPN's Dana O'Neil that fall. 'Everyone is watching us. I can use that as a chance to be a light in the world, in a sense, to show people how I live and what I believe.' He would make basketball his mission, and his mission basketball. He was the first Duke player to openly frame his career as an act of faith.
At Duke
Jackson arrived at Duke in the fall of 2016 as part of a historically loaded freshman class: Jayson Tatum, Harry Giles, and Marques Bolden joined him in a group that had the Blue Devils ranked preseason No. 1 in the nation. But injuries ravaged the roster from the start. Giles was still recovering from multiple knee surgeries. Bolden had a mysterious lower-leg injury. Tatum dealt with a foot sprain. Jackson was the lone healthy five-star recruit for much of the early season, and associate head coach Jeff Capel saw his role clearly: 'He's a guy that can be a playmaker for us. He can be a scorer for us. He's maybe our best on-the-ball defender.'
Jackson delivered immediately. In his Duke debut against Marist at the Hall of Fame Tip-Off, he scored 18 points with four assists. The next night against Grand Canyon, he dropped 22 points and earned ACC Freshman of the Week. His early-season scoring — 19 against William & Mary, 17 against Penn State — established him as the third weapon alongside Luke Kennard and Grayson Allen that Duke desperately needed.
The season was turbulent. Duke went 28-9 overall but stumbled through a 11-7 ACC stretch that included Allen's tripping controversies and the lingering effects of the freshman injuries. Jackson's role evolved as the year progressed — he started 16 of 36 games and averaged 10.9 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in 24.9 minutes, shooting an impressive 40 percent from three and 54 percent on two-point shots.
But the 2017 ACC Tournament in Brooklyn is where Jackson's Duke legacy was forged. As the fifth seed, Duke had to win four games in four days. Against Clemson in the second round, Jackson, Tatum, and Kennard each scored 20 points — Jackson shooting a blazing 7-for-10 from the field. In the semifinal against rival North Carolina, he contributed 15 points and 5 rebounds in a 93-83 victory. In the championship against Notre Dame, with Bonzie Colson pouring in 29 for the Irish, Jackson's layup gave Duke the lead at 61-60 with just over five minutes left. Duke won 75-69 — the program's first ACC Tournament title since 2011 — and Jackson had been essential every step of the way.
In the NCAA Tournament, Jackson added 14 points, three assists, and two steals in a first-round win over Troy. Duke's season ended in the second round with a loss to South Carolina, but Jackson had established himself as far more than a complementary piece. He won the Pagliuca Family Coach's Award, given to the player who best exemplifies the commitment and values of Duke Basketball — a recognition that carried extra weight for a kid who had framed his entire Duke experience as a form of service.
On May 12, 2017, Jackson declared for the NBA Draft, forgoing his three remaining years of eligibility. He had played one season alongside a future superstar in Tatum, a future All-Star in Kennard, and Duke's most controversial player of the decade in Allen. He had won an ACC championship. And he had done it all as an unofficial missionary for his faith, 2,000 miles from the mountains where he grew up.
After Duke
The Charlotte Hornets selected Jackson with the 31st overall pick — the first pick of the second round — in the 2017 NBA Draft, then immediately traded him to the New Orleans Pelicans for cash considerations. His agent leaned over with about one minute left on the Hornets' clock and told him the pick was coming. A lifelong dream, communicated by text message.
Then the dream stalled. Jackson had been dealing with a stress reaction in his right foot during his Duke season, and he underwent surgery in May 2017 — before the draft. At the combine in Chicago, he removed his walking boot and registered a 42-inch vertical leap anyway, a stunning display of raw athleticism. But in August, he broke the same foot again and needed a second surgery. In January 2018, a third procedure followed to remove residual scar tissue. Jackson missed his entire rookie season without playing a single NBA game. 'I never had an injury my whole life up until last year,' he said. 'It was tough.'
He finally made his NBA debut on October 17, 2018 — more than sixteen months after being drafted — logging two minutes off the bench in the Pelicans' season opener against Houston. The foot was pain-free, and Jackson slowly worked his way into the rotation. By January 2019, he was scoring 17 against Memphis, draining three threes in 19 minutes. On February 2, he erupted for a career-high 25 points against the Spurs. In 2019-20, he scored 21 against Denver and 23 against the Clippers, establishing himself as a capable scoring guard off the bench.
But the NBA is merciless with its margins. In December 2020, Jackson signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder and was waived seventeen days later. He landed with the Detroit Pistons on a two-way contract and found a more stable home there — starting games, earning a two-year extension in August 2021, and averaging 10.2 points while shooting 42.3 percent from the field across two seasons. Then Detroit declined his team option in June 2022, and at twenty-four years old, Frank Jackson was searching again.
A brief stint with the Utah Jazz in February 2023 — ten days, a homecoming of sorts — was followed by time in the G League with the Salt Lake City Stars. When no NBA offer materialized, Jackson went overseas. He signed with LDLC ASVEL in the French league and EuroLeague in July 2023, averaging 10.3 points in six EuroLeague appearances before the club parted ways with him in November. He moved to the CBA with the Shanxi Loongs, then departed in February 2024.
The pattern — sign, perform, move on — became the rhythm of his career. Nanterre 92 in France for the 2024-25 season. Then the Jiangsu Dragons in the CBA, where Jackson found his best overseas form: 20.1 points per game in 33 games, highlighted by a 46-point explosion against Sichuan in December 2024 that was the most he had ever scored at any level of professional basketball. In August 2025, he signed with the Ningbo Rockets of the CBA, joining former NBAers Tacko Fall and Zavier Simpson.
Where Is He Now
At twenty-seven, Frank Jackson is playing professional basketball on the other side of the world from the Wasatch Mountains where he grew up. The Ningbo Rockets play in the Youngor Arena, a long way from Cameron Indoor Stadium, and Jackson's role is what it has always been — score the basketball, compete, represent himself well. In the early months of the 2025-26 CBA season, he has been among the team's leading scorers.
His NBA career spanned 214 regular-season games across five seasons with the Pelicans, Pistons, and Jazz — career averages of 8.5 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 1.0 assist per game. Not a star's stat line, but a professional's. He played alongside Anthony Davis and Zion Williamson in New Orleans. He earned real NBA minutes and real NBA money. And when the league moved on, he didn't quit. He went to France, then China, then France again, then China again — always chasing the next roster spot, the next opportunity.
The kid who committed to BYU at fourteen, who dreamed of a Mormon mission like every other boy in Alpine, Utah, ended up spending his twenties in Durham, New Orleans, Detroit, Salt Lake City, Lyon, Shanxi, Nanterre, Jiangsu, and Ningbo. His father, who converted to the LDS church at an inner-city congregation in D.C. where he coached fatherless boys, became a Utah state senator. His best friend went to Tokyo for two years with no phone. Frank went to Duke, won an ACC championship with Jayson Tatum, got drafted, broke his foot three times, and kept playing.
Coach K gave him the Pagliuca Family Coach's Award his only season at Duke — the commitment and values award. It was, in retrospect, the most prophetic honor the program could have bestowed. Frank Jackson has spent every year since then proving that the commitment was real, that the values held, even when the stage got smaller and the cities got farther from home. His mission was never the traditional kind. But he's still on it.