Jackson grew up in Webster Parish, Louisiana and attended Sibley High School from 1976–77 to 1979–80. During his junior and senior years, Sibley won 100 straight games, including a perfect 58–0 season in 1979–80 which ended with a state championship.
College
Willie Jackson decided to stay in Louisiana and signed to play at Centenary College of Louisiana, an NCAA Division I institution. He played basketball all four seasons and graduated as the most prolific scorer in both school and Trans America Athletic Conference history. Between 1980–81 and 1983–84, Jackson played in 114 games and recorded 2,535 points, 1,013 rebounds, 112 blocks and 205 steals. Through the 2009–10 season, these rank him first, second, first and third in Centenary history, respectively. Only Hall of FamerRobert Parish grabbed more rebounds. He scored 30 or more points in a game 21 times and had a career high of 41. When Jackson's career ended, he was one of only seven players in Division I history to have scored 2,500+ points and grabbed 1,000+ rebounds. He is still the only TAAC/Atlantic Sun Conference player to be honored as the Conference Player of the Year three times, and upon graduation was only the fourth Division I player ever to earn three conference player of the year awards. Jackson was drafted in the fourth round in the 1984 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets, although he never played in the league. He played the 1984–85 season in the Continental Basketball Association, for the Wisconsin Flyers and Sarasota Stingers. He averaged 8.3 points and 3.4 rebounds over 35 games.
Coaching career
Jackson was the head boys' basketball coachLoyola College Prep in Shreveport, Louisiana. His previous coaching experience also included a stint as an assistant coach for Centenary. Through the 2008–09 boys' basketball season, Jackson has become the winningest coach in school history, leading the Flyers to three playoff berths, a school-record 27 wins in 2007–08, three 20-win seasons, and his 118 wins was 40 more than the next closest head coach at Loyola Prep. He was also named the Coach of the Year on The Times All-City team in 2004–05. He was terminated as head coach at the end of the 2012 season. As of 2012–13 Willie Jackson is the head coach at Central High School in Grand Cane, Louisiana.
