The RoundHouse | 12/11/2020 4:14:00 PM

 
 
Juanita Durham watches her son bounce around the basketball court and thinks of a little boy who couldn't talk. She remembers countless trips to hospitals, a brain starved of oxygen and seizures.
 
"Everybody can see the athlete," she said. "I see the miracle."
 
Clarence Jackson is a 6-foot-7 sophomore forward at Wichita State, a newcomer from Georgia, and is making a strong impression with his hustle. His mother knows fans love that about her son. She wants them to know the story behind that determination.
 
"I remember being in the hospital, sitting in the corner praying," she said. "I gave him back to God. Things seemed to start changing. He never gave up."
 
Jackson, from Dublin, Ga., suffered from seizures as a young child after a bout with swollen tonsils and a high fever around age 1. 
 
"By the time he turned a year old, he had a seizure so bad they used life-saving techniques," Durham said. "We went from hospital to hospital."
 
The seizures occurred frequently in his early years, so much so that Durham said it was difficult for her to work because of the attention her son required. Around 18 months, she said, he suffered a grand mal seizure. When he walked, he dragged his right leg. Even now, he says, people who watch closely notice a hitch in his run.
 
"I was always in the hospital," Jackson said. "I know I was a miracle."
 
Medication and therapy lessened the frequency and severity of the seizures before he grew out of them. The last one he remembers occurred around age 12.
 
"They told me he wouldn't walk normally," Durham said. "Wouldn't have the normal life of a toddler. Learning disorders. Hearing loss."
 
Jackson needed speech and physical therapy. Issues with his ears affected his sense of balance. Durham leaned on her church's prayer chain.
 
"He has always been a high achiever because he knew what he had gone through," she said. "He would say 'I'm going to do it. I'm going to do great and I'm going to be able to tell my story.'"
 
Jackson refused to let those difficulties weigh him down. 
 

 

"It's amazing man. I'm here now so I've gotta perform every night." - @cash9_

Monzy made clutch plays like this one in his Shocker debut. pic.twitter.com/abrP2vNBwS

— Wichita State Men's Basketball (@GoShockersMBB) December 3, 2020

 
 
His mother emphasized grades – 85 percent wasn't high enough for her, so he aimed for 90 - and he compiled a 3.4 grade-point average in high school. She needed to tell teachers about his medical difficulties so they could prepare. He didn't like that, didn't want anyone to set low expectations for him. It is not a part of his life he usually shares.
 
"I always challenged myself," he said. "I overcame everything."
 
Jackson decided now is the time to tell his story.
 
"Once I got to this point, it can inspire others," he said. "I know I have a story a lot of people can relate to."
 
JaDeon Mims met Jackson in seventh grade at Wilkinson County junior high. He knew about Jackson's health issues. Few others do.
 
"He doesn't want anybody to feel sorry for him," Mims said. "Growing up with those type of issues, nobody would expect you to overcome that type of stuff. That's the person he is."
 
Those challenges created a strong relationship between son and mother. Durham is a breast cancer survivor. Jackson, then 13, helped her shave her head during treatments. He missed school to stay home and care for her.
 
"That's our bond – all the tough times when she was with me when I was sick and then me taking care of her," he said. 
 
Family and friends call Jackson by his nickname – "Monzy." An aunt decided that he looked like a "Monzy," derived from his middle name of Le'Mon.
 
"It stuck," he said. "She didn't want to call me Clarence."
 
Jackson led Wilkinson County High School to two Class A Public state titles before playing his senior season at Dublin High. He spent a post-graduate year at Middle Georgia Prep to improve his college options and, still not satisfied, a year at Polk (Fla.) State College.
 
When Wichita State called, he saw a school with a reputation that fit – energy, hustle, defense. Because of his good grades, he did not need to spend two seasons in junior college.
 
"I pushed hard and pushed hard," he said. "Come to find out, one of the schools that wanted me was a school I really wanted to go to – Wichita State."
 
When Mims met Jackson, then the new kid in school, in seventh grade, some teammates acted wary of a threat to their playing time. Mims saw Jackson as a talent who could help the team. 
 
They played the same forward position and Jackson credits Mims with challenging him in practice. Mims started over Jackson in eighth grade.
 
"When we got to high school, Clarence was the man," Mims said. "He always led by example, his dedication to the game. All the coaches knew that if everybody would do what Clarence did, we would win a state championship."
 
Jackson is setting a similar example at Wichita State. In two games off the bench, he averages 11.5 points and a team-high 7.5 rebounds.
 
"He's high energy," Wichita State coach Isaac Brown said. "His minutes will continue to go up. He's just got to keep learning the system. He plays hard. He plays the right way."
 
Jackson tells teammates he plays with such determination because of his struggles as a child.
 
"I can't hold nothing back," he said. "Growing up, I didn't know if I was going to be in this position. It's finally here. I overcame so much in my life, I've got to make it." 
 
The Shockers (1-1) play Oklahoma State (5-0) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Koch Arena (ESPN plus). Before the game, Jackson will call on another source of inspiration, a picture of his son. Tru, 1, lives with his mother in South Carolina.
 
"That drives me even more," he said. "Before every game, I think about him. 'Do it for Tru. Do it for Tru.'"
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.