June 15, 2011
WASHINGTON - The Georgetown men's basketball team's planned trip to China in August got a boost last week, courtesy of an alum.
Michael Jackson (C'86), a former men's basketball standout and member of the 1984 National Championship team, returned to the Hilltop to spend time with Head Men's Basketball Coach John Thompson III and members of the planning committee to provide his experiences in China.
Jackson is uniquely qualified to provide input on the team's trip to China as he is Nike's General Manager of Basketball, Greater China and Global Business Development. He arrived in the Nation's Capital on the red-eye from his office in Oregon and spent two days on the Hilltop.
Professionally, Jackson said that he travels to China once or twice a month and spends nearly 65 percent of the year in Asia. "I love it there," Jackson said, "I absolutely love it there. I learn something every time I go."
Jackson explained that Nike has its product in nearly 7,000 stores in the country. "You learn all the time," Jackson said. "To be part of a marketplace that you're helping to create, a retail marketplace and change it from a mono brand to a multi-brand...to be part of that is fascinating."
One of the aspects of Chinese culture that Jackson said the Georgetown travel party will experience from the people is their interest in basketball.
"Their love of the game is something I've never seen or experienced anywhere in the world," Jackson said. "They just love the game. Some of them may not know how to play it, or even what to wear when they play it, but they love the game."
Following a standout career for the Hoyas in which he was a three-time All-BIG EAST selection, Jackson, who earned his degree in political science with a minor in sociology, was accepted to the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard in 1986. He played in the NBA for three years with the Sacramento Kings and he assumed management positions with the United State Olympic Committee, Turner Sports and served as the president of Yankees-Nets, a media partnership between two of the New York area's major professional franchises.
While Jackson downplayed his role in assisting with the planning for the August trip, he did say that the opportunity to come back to Georgetown was special for him.
"I care for Georgetown," Jackson said. "I really like it here and I had a good time here. I like and appreciate what John DeGioia has done for Georgetown and have stayed in touch with him since I graduated."
