GNAC Men's Basketball

Jackson To Chair NCAA Rules Committee

Jackson

Western Washington head coach Brad Jackson has been named Chair of the NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committee.

Jackson, who is beginning his 23rd season as coach at Western, is in his fifth year on the committee as a Division II representative. He replaces former Wake Forest University basketball coach Skip Prosser, who died on July 26 of an apparent heart attack.

“Brad's certainly been very active on our committee and it certainly says something that his peers asked him to be the replacement for Skip Prosser,” said Ty Halpin, NCAA Associate Director of Playing Rules Administration.

The 55-year-old Jackson has the most wins of any men's basketball coach in school history with 409, and is the longest tenured. He ranks No.19 among NCAA II active coaches in victories and No.35 in winning percentage at .631.

“I am honored to be able to serve in this capacity,” Jackson said. “I'm also appreciative of the confidence shown in me by my fellow committee members to elect me to this position, especially during a difficult time in which we have all been deeply shocked and saddened by our friend Skip Prosser's passing.”

Jackson has been the coach for five of Western's seven national tournament appearances, including a run to the semifinals of the NCAA II National Tournament in 2001. The Vikings also reached the NAIA National Tournament under Jackson 's tutelage in 1988 and 1994, and the NCAA tourney in 2005 and 2006.

Of Western's 11 20-win seasons, Jackson has been at the helm for nine, including a school-record four straight in the mid-to-late 1980s.

Jackson earned Region, Little All-Northwest and Pacific West Conference Coach of the Year honors in 1991. He was NAIA District 1 Coach of the Year in 1988, 1989 and 1990, as well as being Little All-Northwest Coach of the Year in 1988, NAIA Pacific Northwest Region I Coach of the Year in 1994 and Great Northwest Athletic Conference co-Coach of the Year in 2005.

Jackson also was an assistant coach for the West at the 1992 U.S. Olympic Sports Festival.

Jackson came to Western in 1985 after five successful seasons as a high school coach – four at Olympia and one at Eastside Catholic – in which he led his teams to four state playoff appearances. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach at Seattle Pacific for five seasons.

A graduate of Washington State, Jackson was a three-year letter winner in basketball, serving as team captain and leading the PAC-8 in assists (5.7 avg.) as a senior in 1973-74. He also played baseball for the Cougars as an outfielder for two seasons.