PAOK BC Signed K.J. Jackson

PAOK BC has officially announced a two-year agreement with American guard K.J. Jackson, extending through the 2026-27 season. The Thessaloniki club welcomes Jackson to its ranks, anticipating a significant contribution from the experienced playmaker. "We welcome K.J. Jackson to the big family of PAOK," stated the club in its announcement.

Player Profile

Kaelin Nolan Jackson, born on March 27, 1998 (age 27), stands at 1.88m (6'2") and is capable of playing both point guard and shooting guard. He is coming off a stellar season in the Hungarian league, where he established himself as one of the top scorers.

Career Journey and Recent Performance

Jackson's collegiate career began at Temple University (2016-18) before he transferred to UMBC, where he graduated in 2020. In his final college season (2019-20), he averaged 13.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game. He was twice named Second-team All-America East (2019, 2020).

His professional career began in Europe in the 2020-21 season with CSU Sibiu in Romania (ROM-1), where he averaged 11.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 4.0 assists over 25 games. He also had a brief stint in European competition (EU-3), averaging 7.0 points and 2.8 assists in 4 games.

He continued in Romania for the 2021-22 season with Steaua București (ROM-1), improving his numbers to 15.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 4.5 assists in 30 league games.

For the 2022-23 season, Jackson moved to Finland, playing for Kobrat (FIN-1), where he averaged 16.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 5.9 assists in 22 appearances. Towards the end of that same season, he made a move to France's second division (FRA-2), joining Aix-Maurienne, where he significantly boosted his scoring to 19.5 points, along with 2.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 14 games.

He renewed his contract with Aix-Maurienne for the 2023-24 season, averaging 14.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 5.2 assists in 33 games. After his commitments in France, Jackson played briefly in the Dominican Republic with Titanes Licey (DOM-1), averaging 15.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in 10 games.

Most recently, in the 2024-25 season, Jackson returned to Europe to play for Sopron KC in the Hungarian league (HUN-1). He enjoyed an excellent season, being among the league's top scorers with 16.8 points per game, coupled with 4.4 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 20 appearances. He shot 53% on two-pointers, 31.5% on three-pointers, and 74.3% from the free-throw line.