Meet Jackson Gion

Foothill College guard Jackson Gion qualifies as the poster player for the why of community college basketball. Here's his background.

The 6-foot-3 guard came out of Bellarmine College Preparatory in 2013 after participating basketball and baseball and earning second team All-West Catholic Athletic League honors in the former.

Then it was a year at Linfield College in Oregon playing for Shanan Rosenberg, who enjoyed a successful tenure at Foothill College before moving north. In 25 games, Gion averaged 5.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists in his freshman season, scoring a season high 17 points in his opening game.

Wanting to compete against a higher level of competition, Gion decided to return home. He enrolled at Foothill but redshirted athletically.

Back on the court now and with zero signs of rust, he has amply demonstrated his time away from actual games was put to very good use. Gion is averaging 17.1 points, on 42%, 38% and 80% shooting respectively, plus 6.9 rebounds as well as 3.0 assists. His numbers in each category leads the Owls.

Here's Owl Coach Matt Stanley who formerly assisted at Foothill and moved over from heading the Cañada College program to Los Altos Hills when Rosenberg departed, "Jackson sat out last year but he put in a lot of work. He has an unbelievable work ethic and came back to play at a higher level, Jackson is a scorer and a two guard with the most range of any shooter I've had in my five years of being a head coach."

With the added emphasis now on long-range shooting in basketball, combined with good size plus the knowledge gained from executing the Foothill system, Gion should be on the radar of any number of teams.

*** On Wednesday, Gion scored 28 points in an 85-71 victory against Ohlone College.