Albany, N.Y. — Everything that Andre Jackson does is to prepare him for the next step in his basketball journey.

Jackson is determined to make an immediate impact when he joins the UConn basketball family next season.

Since early October when Jackson announced his college plans, he's committed his heart and soul to becoming a better all-around player, leader and teammate at Albany Academy.

"It's been a grind because I'm so obsessed with the winning thing," Jackson said. "I really want to learn how to play the game so when I make it to the next level I'm not struggling."

A versatile, athletic 6-foot-7 swingman, Jackson put his all-around skills on display before a standing room only home crowd on Saturday against Murry Bergtraum, the seventh ranked team in the state. Albany was ninth in Class A.

Jackson had a keen sense of the moment, contributing the majority of his 21 points and 12 rebounds in the first half while pushing the Cadets to a double digit lead. After intermission, he primarily served as a playmaker before sitting out the last six minutes of an impressive 92-73 victory.

"He's a winner," Albany coach Brian Fruscio said. "Very few guys get it like that now. I don't want to put any more pressure on him than he already has, but when you start seeing how he plays, it's LeBron-esque. He can pass the ball and he gets his teammates involved. He's not selfish. He's about winning.

"Whatever the team needs, he's ready."

Jackson had to wait his turn at Albany Academy.

As a freshman, he played about five minutes per game. It was the best thing that happened to him. He focused on doing the little things to contribute and learned from older teammates like Hameir Wright and August Mahoney, now a junior at Washington and freshman at Yale, respectively.

Last season, Jackson averaged 17.4 points, 10.5 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 3.0 steals while helping the Cadets capture their second straight Class A Federation championship.

By the time his senior year arrived, Jackson, a captain, understood the value of being a good leader and supportive teammate.

"Those guys inspired me," Jackson said. "Now it's my senior year and it's my turn. I want to make everybody feel like they have a worth on the team. ... Even though I could probably go out and score a bunch of points, that's not what I want to do. I want to go out and really just inspire the next guys. ...  I'm not going to be a ball hog just because I want to put up some stats.

"If it's time for me to pass, I'm going to pass. If it's time for me to attack, I'm going to attack."

Jackson, who's blessed with a high basketball IQ, is something to watch when in attack mode.

On Saturday, Jackson grabbed a rebound and sped down court, shaking the last defender with a nifty behind-the-back dribble move before gracefully converting the transition layup.

"He's arguably the best player in the country in transition," Fruscio said. "Once he gets on the move and he's running down the court with the ball like Edwin Moses, then, all of a sudden, you've got to try to stop him on the move. And he finishes."

Jackson is far from a finished product. His jump shot needs work. And he's focusing on improving his ballhandling skills. He's well-aware of the challenges ahead on the collegiate level.

Working in his favor is a strong work ethic. The Albany Academy gym is Jackson's second home. He grew up about a 45 minute drive away in Amsterdam before moving with his family to within walking distance of the school. He regularly works out with his brother, Marcus, an Albany Academy teammate.

"He's a gym rat," Fruscio said. "Him and Marcus spent the summer really capitalizing on being here and getting shots. He really worked on his game last summer and really worked on his weaknesses."

Jackson comes from a basketball family. His mother, Tricia Altieri, and father, Andre, are former college players.

He's a student of the game and watches as many UConn games as he can. He can talk in detail about the skill set of his future teammates and can't wait to join them in Storrs.

"Definitely just making sure I'm prepared for next year," Jackson said. "In my opinion, being ready my freshman year is very important to me and to UConn. They didn't recruit me to have me sit out. They want me to come in and make an immediate impact."

UConn became the obvious choice for Jackson after his recruiting visit to Storrs in late September. Syracuse was the early favorite to sign the top 75 recruit but he made his decision to become a Husky on the car ride back to New York.

It just felt right to Jackson.

He couldn't pass up a chance to play for coach Dan Hurley.

"I love his intensity," Jackson said. "I think I'm my biggest critic. He's really intense during practice. The second the game starts, he's just on your side. He just really pushes you. You can tell he instills so much confidence in his players. He'll help me out with my confidence and the style of play fits me perfectly."

Jackson joins seven-footer Javonte Brown-Ferguson, who attends Thornlea Secondary School in Ontario, in Hurley's second recruiting class at UConn. The Huskies will need an injection of talent to help them be competitive in their return to the Big East next season.

Hurley recently saw Jackson play.

"Just that way we've constructed the roster around him and the way we play defensively, he's going to fit in, hopefully right away the way Akok (Akok) has," Hurley said, "because one of his strengths is going to be his ability to change the game defensively with his length, athleticism and multiple-positional defense. And his true gift is his playmaking, passing and vision. And we're going to have scoring at spots around him.

"We just can't wait to get him here. He's going to have a huge impact on our team."

g.keefe@theday.com