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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Picture of perseverance

John Marshall Associated Press

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Tragedy keeps following Darnell Jackson.

It first found him in Oklahoma, taking his father, leading him to the crime scene of a classmate’s murder.

It tracked him down at Kansas, snatching the lives of friends and relatives – his beloved grandmother among them – and maiming his mother.

Tragedy’s pursuit has been relentless, flooring Jackson at nearly every turn, cramming a lifetime of heartache into 22 years. But each time, Jackson pulled himself up – sometimes reluctantly – pounding his chest in defiance.

“You have to keep getting up,” he said. “It’s the only way you can keep going.”

Jackson was in the eighth grade when his absentee father was killed by Oklahoma City police after he attacked a jogger. During his senior year at high school, Jackson stumbled across the dead body of a classmate.

It didn’t get better when he arrived in Lawrence. His close friend was killed by gang members, his paternal grandfather died and one of his uncles was beaten to death with a hammer.

Then came the crash.

It was May 29, 2005, and Jackson’s mother and grandmother were heading back after taking younger brother Evan to see his father in Las Vegas. An 18-year-old drunken driver swerved into their lane, causing a head-on collision.

Jackson’s mother, Shawn Jackson, was left with a mangled right arm and a crushed right ankle. Evon Jackson, the grandmother who calmed a scared or sad Darnell by resting his head on her stomach, died a week later from her injuries.

To honor those lost, Jackson tried to fend off the latest and harshest blow by thumping his chest with a fist after free throws. By the middle of his junior year, the toll had become too much.

With his mother still hobbled and struggling to support her two younger children because of insurance issues, a distraught Jackson packed his belongings and left Lawrence.

There have been tough times since his return – he cried at halftime against Boston College on Jan. 5 because his grandmother wasn’t there – but mostly the basketball court has become a sanctuary.

Heading into Saturday’s Final Four game against North Carolina, Jackson was Kansas’ fourth-leading scorer at 11.2 points – nearly double his previous best – shooting a team-best 62 percent from the field.

But tragedy is never far away.

In February, while playing some of his best basketball, Jackson learned his 19-year-old cousin, Kascey Corie McClellan, had died after being shot a week earlier at an Oklahoma City nightclub.

The news came the same day fellow senior Rodrick Stewart found out his cousin and adopted brother had been shot and killed while waiting at a traffic light in Seattle.

This time, Jackson met tragedy head-on, using it to form a tighter bond with his teammates, to become even closer to his family.

“I think it’s remarkable with what he’s gone through to get to this point,” said Kansas coach Bill Self. “To have everything thrown at him, he’s still kept his focus and had the discipline to go ahead and see it through.”