Justin Jackson prepares for big return to Houston

Justin Jackson is coming home.

The Tomball, Texas, native has set his sights on a trip to Houston — the site of the Final Four — since the season began.

Now, five months and 32 wins later, Jackson and the top-seeded North Carolina men’s basketball team are headed to the Lone Star State for a Final Four showdown on Saturday with ACC foe Syracuse.

“I get to take these guys back to my hometown,” he said.

Though NRG Stadium is a 45-minute drive from his home, Jackson is no stranger to the big city.

The sophomore wing practiced with his home-school team in downtown Houston throughout high school, and he calls the path to Houston a familiar one.

But on the court, this is uncharted territory.

Jackson has traveled to Texas just once in his collegiate career — an 84-82 loss to the Texas Longhorns in Austin on Dec. 12. And after falling in the Sweet 16 a season ago, the sophomore is making his first trip to the Final Four.

“It could be in Canada, it could be in Mexico, wherever,” he said. “But just to be in the Final Four was something that we’ve all worked on and worked for this whole entire year and the offseason.

“So add on the fact that it’s back in my hometown, it just kind adds on to the excitement factor.”

Yet this is no ordinary homecoming for Jackson.

Unlike UNC’s Nov. 21 trip to Northern Iowa — a 71-67 loss — to honor Iowa native Marcus Paige, this game wasn’t on the preseason schedule. Had North Carolina faltered at any point in the past four games, the preseason favorites would be watching the Final Four from home.

But four wins later, the Tar Heels are bound for Houston — and not even a trip back home can distract Jackson from his title aspirations.

“We’re going to play in the Final Four and have a chance to win a national championship,” Coach Roy Williams said. “So I don’t even worry about that whatsoever.”

But Houston has proven to be elusive for Williams and his team.

In 2011, second-seeded North Carolina was minutes away from clinching a Final Four berth in Houston.

But after erasing an 11-point deficit, UNC fell 76-69 to No. 4 Kentucky in the Elite Eight — a round it hasn’t conquered since winning the national title in 2009.

Jackson was celebrating his 16th birthday on the day the Tar Heels stopped short of a trip to Houston. Five years later, the hometown hero — fourth on the team in scoring, assists and rebounds per game — is hoping to lead North Carolina to a championship in his own backyard.

“It’s not going back home ...” Williams said. “We’re going to the Final Four to play basketball.”

@CJacksonCowart

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