DATE: Thursday, April 3, 1997               TAG: 9704030628

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   64 lines

THIS GOPHER MAY BE GOLDEN, BUT HE'S NOT ABOUT TO SKIP THE PIT BOBBY JACKSON, ALL-AMERICAN, HAS A POINT TO PROVE TO NBA SCOUTS.

Obviously, Bobby Jackson didn't get the word.

Players of his stature - he was the Big Ten Player of the Year and a second-team All-American who led Minnesota to the Final Four this season - annually turn up their noses at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.

Heck, players a notch or two below Jackson annually turn up their noses at the PIT - sometimes to their detriment.

But here Jackson is, ready to play in front of NBA scouts at Churchland High. He arrived at the Holiday Inn-Portsmouth Waterfront on Wednesday night with a brand-new Final Four gym bag and no fears of hurting his draft stock with a poor performance. Jackson's Beach Barton Ford team will take on Dolsey Ltd., led by Louisville's Alvin Sims, tonight at 9.

``I never thought about not playing,'' Jackson said. ``Coach (Clem) Haskins told me it was my choice, but that it would help me in the long run.

``I have nothing to lose, unless I play real bad. Last year, I wasn't in this position. I'm not going to take advantage just because I was Big Ten Player of the Year and an All-American.''

Jackson's outlook hasn't been shared by many of the nation's top seniors in recent years. Or even by the second tier of seniors. Players like Tim Duncan and Keith Van Horn obviously don't need to come to Portsmouth. But in the past two years players, like Kiwame Garris of Illinois, Jason Sasser of Texas Tech and Randy Rutherford of Oklahoma State have pulled out for fear of hurting their draft positions.

Had Jackson chosen to do the same, few could have blamed him. After all, his season didn't end until Saturday night. He stayed in Indianapolis to watch the final game Monday night, then returned to Minnesota on Tuesday morning.

On Tuesday night, the Golden Gophers were honored at the Minnesota Twins' season opener. The privilege of throwing out the first pitch went to Haskins. But it was Jackson who handed him the ball.

On Wednesday, Jackson went to class and then flew to Portsmouth.

``It's been tiring,'' he said. ``I missed a lot of school.''

Jackson was a relative unknown until this season. The native of Salisbury, N.C., spent two years at a junior college before transferring to Minnesota. Although he was recruited by every ACC school but Duke and North Carolina, Jackson said he wanted to get away from home.

A dynamic scorer, Jackson pumped in 36 points against Clemson in the NCAA tournament. His task over the next three days is to show that he can play point guard. At 6-foot-1, Jackson is considered too short to play shooting guard - his college position - in the NBA.

Haskins, who played in the NBA himself, has no doubts that Jackson can play the point.

``He's just a guard, period,'' Haskins told a Minnesota newspaper recently. ``He's a player. In the right situation - where he can play defense and run the floor - he's an NBA player, no question.''

Jackson has already scored points with scouts by showing up. Marty Blake, director of scouting for the NBA, said more players should follow his example.

``You've got 220 scouts here,'' Blake said. ``Why would they not come?

``It just shows he wants to do it,'' Blake said. ``And this (playing in the NBA) does beat working, you know.''

Maybe Jackson got the word after all. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

ASSOCIATED PRESS

At 6-foot-1, Bobby Jackson's best bet for an NBA career is to prove

that he can handle the point.

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