Nearly 20 years after his final game for the Bulls, USF basketball legend Altron Jackson is returning to the program as the Director of Player Development, coach Brian Gregory announced Wednesday morning.

𝙃𝙀'𝙎 𝘽𝘼𝘼𝘼𝘼𝘼𝘼𝘼𝘼𝘼𝘼𝘾𝙆‼️#TakeNotice🤘 pic.twitter.com/3790uP9JPZ

— USF Men's Basketball (@USFMBB) September 9, 2020

“Any time you have the opportunity to hire one of the greatest players in the history of our program, it’s a great day for the South Florida Bulls,” Gregory said in a statement. “Altron has a wealth of experience as a student-athlete, as a professional player and as a graduate, and his opportunity to mentor our current student-athletes and have a positive impact on them is going to be tremendous.”

Playing during one of the USF men’s basketball golden eras under coach Seth Greenberg, Jackson established himself as an all-time great from 1998-2002.

By the end of his four-year career, Jackson had become the program’s second all-time leading scorer with 2,017 points, had helped lead the Bulls to multiple postseason appearances and etched his name all over the USF record books. 

Jackson also ranks top 10 in field goals made (second), free throws made (fourth), three-point field goals made (tenth), 20-point games (second), 30-point games (third) and steals (fourth).

“Altron has a deep love and passion for the University of South Florida, and I expect really, really great things to come from adding him to our staff,” Gregory said.

After his time with USF, Jackson went on to play professional basketball in Europe, where he averaged nine points per game across three seasons in Germany, Hungary and France.

In the time after his playing career, Jackson continued to be around the game, working for six years as a Player Development Coach at high school basketball powerhouse IMG Academy in Bradenton. Over the last several years, IMG has produced multiple high-level basketball players such as former Duke point guard Trevon Duval and 2018 first-round pick Anfernee Simons.

With fellow top-10 scorer David Collins, big man Michael Durr, sharpshooter Justin Brown, Alexis Yetna returning from injury, highly touted freshman Caleb Murphy and many other talented players on this year’s roster, Jackson will have no shortage of talent to work with and develop.

“I want to thank Coach Gregory and his staff for giving me an amazing opportunity to be a part of a special program that is very dear to my heart,” Jackson said. “I can’t wait to get started and help these young men reach their goals in life.”