Most eyes rarely wander past the top three when draft night rolls around. After the holy trinity, the rest are left to fight their way into memory. But this time, there’s a certain No. 4 making her own kind of noise in the W. And no, it’s not 2025’s Kiki Iriafen, with her front-page Rookie of the Year campaign. It’s 2024’s Rickea Jackson.
Before she was wearing Sparks yellow, Jackson followed a path that never stayed still. She started at Mississippi State, then made the move to Tennessee, becoming a two-time First-Team All-SEC selection (2023, 2024). Long before that, in her home state of Michigan, she was already a winner—leading her team to three straight Class C state championships (2017, 2018, 2019). By the time Los Angeles pulled her in via trade with Seattle, she had the résumé, the confidence, and the game.
Her rookie year validated it all with a spot on the 2024 All-Rookie Team. Still, there was Caitlin Clark, the revolution. The No. 1 pick who seemed to vacuum up all the oxygen in the room. Jackson played well, but in the public’s eye, she played in the shadows until now.
1,000 CAREER POINTS FOR RICKEA JACKSON pic.twitter.com/IOWFPnnbPh
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) August 30, 2025
Against Caitlin Clark’s own Indiana Fever, Rickea Jackson flipped the script. With poise and fire, she became the first from the 2024 draft class (yes, before Clark herself, who’s at 983) to cross 1,000 regular-season career points. Not just that, she also etched her name into Sparks history by becoming the fifth-fastest player in franchise history to do it. Jackson is truly catching the spotlight.
(This is a developing story…)
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