Michigan State's Jaren Jackson Jr. grew up liking Syracuse to spite his father

DETROIT — Michigan State freshman big man Jaren Jackson Jr. was a Syracuse fan growing up.

Wait, what?

Jackson’s father, Jaren Jackson Sr., played his college ball at Georgetown, the then-Orangeman’s biggest, most-hated rival.

“I actually grew up liking them because of my dad, just to make him upset,” Jackson laughed, sitting in the corner of the Spartans’ locker room in Detroit Saturday afternoon.

Aside from simply agitating his father, the MSU freshman said he admired the play of SU standouts like Malachi Richardson and Tyler Ennis, among others.

MSU plays No. 11-seed Syracuse at Little Caesars Arena Sunday in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Jackson Jr. said he hasn’t had a chance to talk with his father yet, but joked that he can guess what his dad is thinking.

“It’s a Georgetown-Syracuse thing, man,” Jackson Jr. said. “There’s only one thing on his mind, you know that. It’s a rivalry thing for him.”

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim made no bones about his thoughts on the senior Jackson and Georgetown during his press conference Saturday.

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“He was a really, really good player at Georgetown,” Boeheim said of Jackson Sr., who played for the Hoyas from 1985 to 1989 and was 9-2 all-time against the Orange. “I didn’t like him too much. I don’t like anything about Georgetown.”

Boeheim is 38-37 all-time against the Hoyas since he began his career at SU in 1976. He had notorious clashes with former Georgetown head coach John Thompson, but, together, the rivals helped build the Big East into one of the top conferences and brands in the nation, along with a pair of other northeast schools, St. John’s and Providence.

Jackson Sr. played against the likes of SU legends Pearl Washington and former Piston, Derrick Coleman. He got the best of Boeheim in his four-years in Washington, D.C., but Boeheim took his team to the national championship game in 1987, despite losing all three games to the Hoyas that season.

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Jackson Sr. and the Hoyas made it to the NCAA tournament all four years, but never advanced past the Elite Eight. During his freshman season, Georgetown fell in the second round to Scott Skiles and the fifth-seeded Spartans. Jackson Sr. played in 130 games in a Hoyas uniform, starting 40. The 6-foot-4 shooting guard averaged 7.5 points per game, including 12.3 a night during his senior season.

Despite being undrafted, Jackson Sr. went on to have a 13-year professional basketball career. In 1999, he won an NBA title as a member of the San Antonio Spurs.

Jackson Jr. knows the Georgetown-SU rivalry means a lot to his father. He joked, “I’ve watched the tapes.” But Sunday afternoon, he knows where his father’s focus will really be.

“He’s more MSU right now, mentally,” he said. “Whatever I’m doing, he’s with me.”

Boeheim, who is 5-1 all-time against the Spartans, emphasized again what a good player Jackson Sr. was during his time at Georgetown. But he isn’t the Jackson he is concerned about right now.

“His son is even better,” Boeheim said. “He is a really good player.”

Contact Cody Tucker at (517) 377-1070 or cjtucker@lsj.com and follow him on Twitter @CodyTucker_LSJ.