Body of Work

The first few practices, it was all about surviving. Today, it’s about advancing for Kamilah Jackson.

"The speed of running and the amount of running, just the change of it," reflected Jackson, the four-year Hawaii forward, on her struggles adapting to coach Dana Takahara-Dias’ drills in 2010 coming fresh out of Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep in the Bay Area.

"Keep on running!" Jackson said with a laugh. "May not have been the best team, but we were well conditioned."

Much has changed about the once-struggling Rainbow Wahine program since that time. A new coach, wins, a postseason appearance. But Jackson, the 5-foot-11 forward from Oakland, Calif., has been an immovable object over that span.

She is already one of the most decorated players in Hawaii women’s basketball history. As one of only two Rainbow Wahine in the 1,000-point, 1,000-rebound club, Jackson has put in the time and shown her work.

With two home games remaining in her career, it’s now a matter of seeing all that body-banging effort come to fruition ideally by making a run in the postseason.

It’s also a little difficult to do that while watching from the bench. Jackson, UH’s leading scorer (15.5) and rebounder (9.7) for the fourth straight year, has missed the past three games with a sprained right foot. She’s officially listed as day-to-day going into Thursday’s game against Long Beach State.

But coach Laura Beeman has urged caution while dealing with her star player, knowing tournament time is what really counts.

All the stats and figures that Jackson has amassed 1,538 points (fourth in UH history) and 1,167 rebounds (second) can be appreciated later, by her reckoning.

Now, an NCAA tournament appearance, something UH hasn’t earned since 1998? She’ll take that. But to do so, UH must win anywhere from two to four games in the Big West tournament in mid-March, depending on its seeding.

"I hope it does happen for us, because I know we didn’t end the way we wanted to last year (a second-round loss)," Jackson said. "I hope we can change that this year."

Jackson’s body of work was accomplished largely against players larger than her, something her mother could appreciate. Trina Easley-Jackson was a two-time All-American at San Francisco State and set that program’s scoring, rebounding and shot-blocking records as a 6-foot post player.

"She has definitely developed the toughness that I had," Easley-Jackson said. "She works hard and she doesn’t give up. I always told her, it doesn’t matter how big a player is, you can play against anyone. It doesn’t matter how tall they are, how small they are. If you work hard, you can outperform ’em."

Kamilah and her sister Jazmine, a four-year guard at Pepperdine, took lessons from their parents’ makeshift school of hard knocks on Sundays at a nearby Oakland gym. Trina wouldn’t hold back, and even the girls’ father, Ronald, a baseball player, would get involved.

Jackson didn’t really think about basketball as a ticket to something more until just prior to high school. Trina has offered regular advice from afar since then and the Jacksons have attended almost every road game in California.

The Jacksons will be present at the Stan Sheriff Center for senior night against UC Santa Barbara on March 6.

For Beeman, Jackson’s biggest career accomplishment is not the 50-plus career double-doubles she’s piled up. It’s her demeanor on the nights she doesn’t have that kind of game going.

"I think she’s changed the expectations, whether you’re a post or a guard, of what you need to do for this program," Beeman said. "That you need to step up every night and help your team win ballgames."

Jackson might not be an official team captain, but she’s one of the team’s de facto leaders every time she steps on the court. For Jackson, who never naturally seeks the spotlight, that took some getting used to.

"I think that’s been the biggest shift for Mia," Beeman said. "She’s such a powerful young woman with her personality, because she is very charismatic."

Beeman felt Jackson deserved last season’s Big West player of the year award, which went instead to Cal Poly’s Molly Schlemer, and believes she should be in the discussion again this year.

Jackson would toss away another all-conference award if it meant going to the Big Dance for the first time.

"It would mean the world to me," she said.