By Harry Minium
FRISCO, Texas – For much of the afternoon, Brian Jackson III has been sitting silently, at times rocking back and forth, in his familiar place in the stands at Chartway Arena.
The Jackson family sits in the same location for every Old Dominion women's basketball game, in the lower bowl across the court from the ODU bench. And while other members of family scream and yell in support of his big sister, Brian remains silent.
But his face lights up at game's end when Brianna Jackson walks off the court, steps into the stands and begins talking to her brother. He looks up and they begin to talk quietly. The love they share is instantly apparent.
He smiles as they converse, and she briefly hugs him.
Brian, 14, has autism and is visually impaired. He has trouble communicating and generally doesn't like to be touched or to deal with strangers.
His sister, Jada, is 17 and while autistic and also visually impaired, she's not as far along the spectrum as her brother. She is talkative and always smiling and gives Brianna a bear hug.
Being able to hug her brother and sister is a joy Brianna was denied the last two seasons, and that's the primary reason she is now playing for ODU.
A 6-foot-2 junior, Brianna is a former Princess Anne High School star who had offers from some of the elite in college basketball. She was won over during her recruiting visit to the University of Miami, where she was blown away by the red carpet the Hurricanes rolled out for her.
She stayed at the Ritz Carlton, rubbed elbows with the rich and elite and was impressed by the opulence of South Beach. Her father, Brian Jackson II, warned her that she would not be staying in an upscale hotel, that she would be living in the dorms and going to class and playing basketball 10 or 12 hours a day.
But she acknowledges that she didn't listen.
"When you're young and you're going to all of these schools to visit, especially when you visit Miami, they put on a show," Brianna said. "I said, 'Oh yeah I'm going to go to Miami and have fun.'
Christina, Brianna and Jada Jackson
"I wasn't really thinking about basketball."
She stuck it out for two years. But she missed her family and said coaches at Miami were attempting to change her game. She felt more like a number than a person.
So, she made the decision to enter the transfer portal and quickly chose to come home and play for ODU.
"Best decision I ever made," she said.
She has made great strides on the court. She's trimmed 30 pounds since arriving at ODU over the summer and may be the most improved player on the team. And while basketball is important to her, family comes first.
When she was at Miami, she would Zoom with her family almost every day. And while her parents came to see her play once in a while, her siblings could not. It was her first time away from her siblings and her heart ached that she could not be with them.
"Physically being around my brother and sister is the best way to show my love," she said. "They could hear my voice but couldn't feel my hug.
"Now, they can feel my hug and I can feel them."
She has emerged as one of the most important players for ODU, which plays UTEP or UTSA Wednesday at 12:30 in the afternoon in the second round of the Conference USA tournament (ESPN+).
Jackson has averaged seven points and five rebounds per game and is fourth in the conference in blocked shots with 43. But the stats understate the value she has brought to coach DeLisha Milton-Jones' program.
"She has been an anchor for us in the paint," Milton-Jones said. "And that really changed things for us offensively throughout the year.
Brianna Jackson with sister Destinee
"Depending on who we've played, we've started her or brought her in off the bench. And she's weathered the ebb and flow of that really well. There have been times when we have ridden on Brianna's back.
"We would not be where we are today without Brianna."
Brian Jackson II and his wife, Christina, met when they were in college in Barstow, California. He then transferred to Western New Mexico, where he played basketball, and they were married and then moved to Las Vegas.
Eventually, they moved back to Cali, where they planned to set down roots.
But when Brian III was born, they quickly discovered that in spite of the high taxes they were playing in California, the state did not offer the services they needed to help their son. They were advised that Virginia offered what they needed, so they headed east.
"It took us five days" to drive to Virginia, he said. "But it was all worth it. Moving to Virginia has been such a blessing."
They quickly turned Virginia Beach into their new home. Brian II is an employee relations manager with ODU's Department of Human Resources. Christina is an administrative assistant for Mosquito Joe, the company that will rid your yard of biting insects for that special outdoor party.
They enrolled their son in Plan Bee, a private school in Chesapeake that specializes in educating autistic children and helping them reach their potential. And Plan Bee has helped their son reach his potential.
He's talking more and recently took part in a school play.
Jada, meanwhile, enrolled in the Virginia Beach school system where she has thrived. She's a member of the chorus at Ocean Lakes High School and will graduate in June.
Being the parents of autistic children isn't easy. When Brian III was a child, he often had emotional outbursts.
"When he was younger, he didn't know how to express himself," his father said. "When he got frustrated, he would have episodes. We would try to calm him down and figure out what he needed the best we could."
But it was frustrating and took a ton of patience, not just from the parents, but from the siblings. Brianna and Destinee, her 25-year-old sister, helped their parents and became substitute guardians for their brother.
"Nobody gets close to their brother when Destinee and Brianna are around," Brian II said with a smile.
"Our son has made so much progress. He can tell you now when he's hungry. He does talk. He does communicate. Holding a solid conversation outside of 'How are you?' or 'How was school?' we're working on.
"I can't say enough about Plan Bee and the great things they've done for Brian."
Brianna was in the fourth grade when the family moved to Virginia, and she eschewed athletics at first. Her father was a semi-pro player in Las Vegas and her sister was playing in middle school, so she knew a lot about the game.
"I was super girlie when we moved here," she said. "I didn't want people to hit me.
"But when I got into the sixth grade, my parents said that I needed to find some kind of activity or club to take part in. So, I thought I'd try out for basketball."
She was a natural and made the Corporate Landing Middle School team. Her potential was obvious. She was tall and agile and had a blue-collar work ethic. A local high school coach approached her father and suggested that she consider playing AAU basketball.
She began playing for the Boo Williams program and by age 15 was playing internationally – her first road trip was to Brazil.
She was also playing volleyball. However, Christina played volleyball in college and quickly saw that her daughter was much better shooting a ball rather than serving one. She advised her daughter to focus on basketball.
For years, Christina rarely saw her daughter's basketball games.
"It was hard for my mom early in my career," Brianna said. "We couldn't find baby sitters. You can't just get anybody to babysit my brother. You've got to have certain qualifications to take care of an autistic child.
"For a long time, I could only have one parent coming to my games. People at one point thought I just lived with my dad."
In spite of that, Brian II said that his wife has been the major influence in Brianna's life.
Christina's nickname is "Mojo Mom," Brian II said.
"She was the English major in college, and she makes sure the papers are done right and the grades are good," he said. "She also provides the motherly love that no one else can provide.
"Me, I'm going to tell you like it is. I provide tough love and also the caring love kids need from their father.
"But my wife, she's the CEO of our family."
Brian III is sensitive to noises, and the cozy Princess Anne High gym was simply too loud for him, so he attended few of Brianna's high school games. Chartway Arena is much more accommodating.
"The crowds are loud but it's so much bigger and the acoustics are better there," Brian II said.
Jada is a different story. She cheers along with her family.
Brianna Jackson with her father
"She's a ball of energy," Brianna said, smiling. "Sometimes, she does not know when to be quiet.
"She's just pure joy and happiness all of the time. I honestly look up to her because of that. She's always happy, no matter what.
"That's a great quality to have, especially given the cards she's been dealt with in life."
It would be natural for the Jackson family to have something of a 'woe is me' mentality. Clearly, life has dealt many other families better cards.
Having autism is difficult. Being seeing impaired adds another layer of obstacles. Having two children dealing with similar issues is a load on Brian II and Christina that they have handled with grace, patience and a positive attitude.
Jada's sight is better than her brother's. She can see shapes, and can see people but can't focus on features. She uses a cane to walk. Brian III generally needs someone on his arm.
Negativity isn't allowed in the Jackson home. If someone tells Jada at school that she can't do something, her father pushes back.
"You can do anything if you put your mind to it," he said. "Jada cooks for her herself. She does what normal teenagers do. She tries to get away with things like normal teenagers do.
"We don't allow her to say anything negative about what she's got going on. If you set your mind to something, if you want to get it done, you let me know and we'll work with you.
"We have a nice, big backyard for them play around and we take Brian out so he can see his surroundings. Jada, we take her out to stores. We have her go to customer service and ask for an aid to take her shopping because if Mom and Dad are not there, she's going to have to do it.
"We do not allow her use anything as a crutch."
Her father says when she sings, it gives you goose bumps.
Their son, meanwhile, is brilliant. How brilliant? He taught himself how to play the piano.
"Brian will get on his piano and play like no other," he said. "You can come into our house and he's playing smooth jazz."
That her family has faced hardships with a glass-is-half-full philosophy perhaps influenced Brianna's course of study at ODU. She majors in philosophy, an unusual field of endeavor for an athlete.
"I love it because I love deep thinking," she said.
She has read and re-read Meditations; a series of commentaries on how to be good in life written by Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius more than 1,800 years ago.
Yet her favorite philosopher is Rene Descartes, the French scientist, mathematician and philosopher who invented analytic geometry and whose most famous saying is "I think, therefore I am."
"The other day, we were talking about is there life after death and do we have a soul," she said.
"I made the analogy that our soul could be considered stone and our bodies could be a statue. Just because you break the statute doesn't mean there's no longer stone."
Descartes would agree – he was a lay Catholic who believed in life after death.
Faith has been an important factor for the Jackson family in coping with hardships. So has love.
"My brother and sisters are so amazing," Brianna said. "People think that disabilities are a handicap. But my little sister can sing so well, and my brother taught himself to play the piano.
"When I see them at games, it just makes me so happy. It's everything I wanted since I first picked up a basketball. I've just wanted my family's backing, their support."
That support is apparent in games. Christina screams "that's my girl!" Both she and Brian will get on the referees.
"I hear them," Brianna said. "And sometimes when I do, it's difficult not to laugh."
Or to smile.
"I love seeing Brianna smile again," her father said. "And it took a minute for that smile to return.
"When she came back home, it was like night and day. You can tell in how she plays, in her mannerisms. She wasn't doing Brianna the way she does Brianna. She wasn't enjoying herself.
"Other schools were interested in her. But when coach Milton-Jones made the call to her, I was like, 'yes.' She's been so good for Brianna.
"ODU is home. We're so happy that Brianna is back home."
Minium: Brianna Jackson Came to ODU to be Close to Brother Brian and Sister Jada
