With the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament upon him, Aaron Jackson doesn't have time to be disappointed. He has more goals to shoot for.
Like leading the surprising Duquesne University men's basketball team to a championship.
Jackson, Duquesne's hyperactive senior point guard, achieved two of those preseason goals Monday, when the league's coaches voted the 6-foot-4 native of Hartford, Conn., to the all-A-10 first team as well as with the Chris Daniels Award as the league's most improved player.
Jackson, who was not even mentioned for preseason all-conference honors, becomes the first player at Duquesne to earn first-team recognition since Mike James in 1998. He is only the second Dukes player to win the Daniels award, joining former teammate Kieron Achara, who was the 2005 winner.
"It feels great to be recognized by the coaches," Jackson said. "A lot of them had told me they were going to vote for me for player of the year, but I'm not really surprised I didn't get it."
Saint Joseph's senior forward Ahmad Nivins, who led the A-10 in scoring and rebounding with a double-double, received the honor.
"He's well-deserving of it," Jackson said of the 6-9 Nivins, who averaged 19.2 points and 11.7 rebounds per game.
But Jackson also was considered a candidate for player of the year after ranking among the top five in the league in seven statistical categories during the regular season.
He leads Duquesne in scoring (18.3 ppg.) and assists (5.8 apg.) and enters the A-10 Tournament this week just 10 assists shy of the school's single-season record of 178, set by Norm Nixon in 1977.
Also, Duquesne freshman guard/forward Melquan Bolding was named to the all-A-10 rookie team and junior guard Jason Duty, a Vincentian Academy product, was voted to the league's all-academic team.
Sophomore forward Damian Saunders, who leads the A-10 in steals and is third in blocked shots and field-goal percentage and fourth in rebounding, was named all-league honorable mention.
Jackson, who has more than doubled his scoring average (9.0 ppg.) from last season, ranks fourth in field-goal percentage (54.3) among Division I guards. He's had a season to remember, leading Duquesne to a tie for fifth place with a chance for a first-round bye in the A-10 Tournament right up until the final regular-season game.
The Dukes (18-11, 9-7), under third-year coach Ron Everhart, were picked to finish 12th in the regular season. Everhart was being mentioned as a candidate for coach of the year in the league, but that honor went to Rhode Island's Jim Baron, who led the Rams to a second-place finish after they were picked to finish ninth.
Jackson, meanwhile, is the seventh Duquesne player to earn first-team all-conference honors, joining James (1998), Derrick Alston (1994), Rick Suder (1986), Bruce Atkins (1981, 1982), B.B. Flenory (1980) and Nixon (1977).
"I've got one more goal I'd like to reach," he said. "I'd really love to win the A-10 Tournament."
Seventh-seeded Duquesne, which accumulated its most victories in a season since 1981, will play 10th-seeded Massachusetts (12-17, 7-9) in the first round at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.
