There can be a case made for Reed Jackson that what was duplicated will never be imitated.
The late 1980's star of Norris City-Omaha-Enfield did something in the 50 years of the Eldorado Holiday Tournament that has never been done before -- or likely -- again.
Jackson, who played for the Cardinals from 1987 to 1990, is the only player to have won three straight Most Valuable Player honors.
Only one player, Cairo's Anthony Webster, won the MVP title two times in a row (1979-1980) and Harrisburg's Tyler Smithpeters won two MVP titles, but not in a row, winning one in 2010 and another in the Bulldogs' state championship season of 2012.
Jackson, now a father of two, resides in Mt. Vernon, Ind., where by day he farms and at night is an assistant coach for the Wildcats basketball team.
Jackson's NCOE teams won three straight championships, helping the school to its first since the Cardinals won the very first EHT title back in 1965, by beating Christopher 77-57 in 1988.
The next year, NCOE beat Century 64-57 and capped off the run in 1990 as the top seed, beating Waltonville 61-52.
Jackson sat down for a Question and Answer session, talking about his memories of the EHT and what he takes away from his time at NCOE.
Question: No one had a bigger or better run than your NCOE teams did in the EHT. What are the biggest or best memories you have of that time?
Reed Jackson: The biggest thing that I like to remember about the Eldorado Holiday Tournament are the championships that I was a part of at Norris City-Omaha-Enfield. We had three in a row and if you look at my freshman year, where we won the consolation championship, you can say we won four in all. We had a pretty good run of wins there and I'm not so sure anybody else has done that.
We lost our first game my freshman year and then after that, we never lost again. That was pretty special. My senior year, against Eldorado in the semifinals, I probably had the best game I had in any high school contest. I had 38 points, 24 rebounds and at the time, I don't think they kept assist, but I'm sure I had a few assists to go along with it. That was one of the best games I had as a high school player, individually.
Q: You won the MVP 3 times in a row. It's never been duplicated and it's never been done. What does that mean, what did it mean? That has to be something you have to look back on and be fond of.
RJ: I played varsity for four years straight at NCOE and my freshman year, we lost our first game and we won the consolation championship and I was fortunate to be on the All-Tournament Team and then the next three years running, we did not lose a game and I was the MVP all three years. At the time, I didn't think too much of it, but now looking back, its pretty special. I enjoy talking about it with my son and my daughter and some of my former players at NCOE, who helped me get there.
It's an individual award, but without a team effort, it doesn't happen. If NCOE hadn't won three straight championships, I would not have been the MVP. That much I know to be true.
Q: What one game, what one player sticks out in your mind when you look back at your four years in the EHT?
RJ: I think back about this quite often. One of the players that sticks out to me was someone who played before me and that was Erik Griffin at Carrier Mills. Eric was an outstanding player and athlete and I still talk to him every once in a while. I loved to watch him and then TJ Wheeler at Christopher. TJ was a handful to play against and contain. You weren't going to stop him, that's for sure. Those two, by far, stand out more than anyone.
Q: TJ played around the same time you did and set multiple scoring records as well, but never could capture the MVP. So in regard to TJ being Superman, were you his Lex Luthor?
RJ: I'm Facebook friends with his dad (Tom) and I actually mentioned that to him one day! TJ and I had some great competitions. We went up against each other for several years and you look back on it now and I can appreciate what TJ brought to the table and his team and hopefully vice-versa.
Spyder Dann covers prep and college sports for the Southern Illinois LOCAL Media News Group. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.
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