Though Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the recognizable name on the radar for the recent Columbia men's basketball head coaching opening, Penn assistant coach Gil Jackson is also among the candidates for the job.
The 14-year Penn assistant interviewed in New York on Saturday afternoon and feels that he made a positive impression on the Columbia Athletic Department.
Columbia Athletic Director Dr. John Reeves refused to comment last night about any issues concerning the coaching search.
"With Kareem involved, I hope they won't just make the celebrity hire," Jackson said. "I don't think they will."
Jackson has been with the Penn program since the beginning of the Fran Dunphy coaching era and he feels this wealth of experience would aid him at another Ivy school.
"I'm familiar with the Ivy League -- the Ivy League is a different type of environment," Jackson said. "The rules, the financial aid part...That's unique to the Ivy League."
The most veteran Penn assistant by nine years, Jackson has served an all-purpose role in recent years, with the overall goal "to keep Penn at the forefront of the Ivy League."
Jackson, a guard during his playing days at Elizabethtown College, has been at the forefront of recruiting for the Quakers.
A staple on the bench often sporting a polka-dot bow-tie, Jackson has had unsuccessful head coaching interviews for positions at the University of Delaware and Cornell University in the past.
The current Penn assistant figures that this could be a different scenario, despite pressure from Columbia alumni to hire Abdul-Jabbar.
"With most jobs [where I have interviewed], I had an idea who would be hired," Jackson said. "Usually there is some connection in the athletic department and they have a certain card in mind."
