David Jackson Returns to Virginia Tech Men's Basketball as Assistant AD for Strength and Conditioning
Former Tech athlete and strength and conditioning coach David Jackson is returning to Blacksburg after one season away from the program as first reported by David Teel of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Virginia Tech confirmed the news with a press release of their own later on Friday morning.
Jackson's official title will be assistant AD of strength and conditioning for men's basketball.
Jackson followed former Tech head coach Buzz Williams to Texas A&M, where he served one season as the Aggies' director of sports performance for men's basketball.
Prior to that, Jackson spent 12 seasons at Tech under multiple coaching regimes.
Jackson played for the Hokies along with his twin brother Jim on Bill Foster's great teams in the mid 1990s. David saw action in 83 games over his career averaging 6.2 points and 2.2 rebounds per appearance.
He was a member of the 1995 NIT Champion squad, as well as the 1996 NCAA Tournament team.
"David's understanding of Virginia Tech and ability to connect with our players is a home run for Hokie Basketball," head coach Mike Young said.
Despite some roster turnover in the short time he was away, many Tech players are quite familiar with Jackson and excited for his return.
"I am extremely excited to have coach Jax return," Tyrece Radford said.
"He is the coolest, hard-nosed person I have ever met and he's REAL. He is amazing at what he does, which will make us better."
The news comes as a welcome surprise to many, as Jackson was a critical part of the success under Buzz Williams. Looking at photos of players like Ahmed Hill and Justin Robinson, it's clear just how much they grew in Jackson's system.
He was also very involved in the locker room dynamic as seen on numerous behind the scenes videos of celebrations.
With a young family and now having seen what else is out there, Virginia Tech will hope to hang on to Jackson for a long time.
Mike Young hopes they can create another run of NCAA Tournaments through a continued culture hard work in the S&C department under Jackson's leadership.
