GREENSBORO, N.C. – It wasn't an easy road for Ronald Jackson, but he is here.

The Florida native wrapped up his basketball season at North Carolina A&T with first team All-MEAC honors. The forward averaged 15.0 points per game and 10.4 rebounds per game in his senior season.

The Aggies last laced them up after a first-round MEAC tournament win against Howard on March 11. The coronavirus cut his season and college career short, but adversity is nothing new to Jackson.

In his junior year of high school, Jackson tried out for the basketball team but didn't make the cut. His grandmother was in town to visit him and gave him some comfort. In that conversation, Jackson promised her that not only would he make the team, but that he would play professionally.

He lost his grandmother to cancer in October 2013. He went on to make the basketball team the following year and turned that into an opportunity to play at Hillsborough Community College. But before he stepped on campus, he lost his mother to multiple sclerosis.

At one point Jackson didn't want to attend college, but he turned that pain around and it helped him land in Greensboro at N.C. A&T.

After starring for the Aggies for two seasons, he signed a contract with Overtime International Sports agency. Jackson signed the deal on what would have been his grandmother's 78th birthday.

Now he will pursue his professional basketball career and fulfill the final promise he made to his grandmother.