There are Michigan charter school alumni playing at the highest levels of professional sports – in the NFL, the NHL and the NBA, along with numerous charter grads playing in the minor leagues of all sports.
One of the most successful pro athletes to come from the Michigan charter schools ranks, though, can be found in the WNBA.
Rickea Jackson is a charter school kid through and through, having gone through her schooling at the acclaimed Detroit Edison Public School Academy (DEPSA), which ranks as one of the best public schools in Detroit for both academics and athletics.
Rickea was a standout in the classroom and on the court, and during her senior year in 2019, she was one of the best girls’ basketball players in the country. She was voted Michigan’s Miss Basketball that season as the state’s top player (the first of four straight DEPSA players to win the award) and was a featured speaker at that spring’s Charter Day at the Capitol.
Oh, and she led her team to three straight MHSAA state championships, too. Detroit Free Press sportswriter Mick McCabe declared the charter school grad, “The greatest girls basketball player in Michigan. Ever.”
Rickea continued to thrive in college, spending three seasons at Mississippi State before transferring to Tennessee for her final two seasons. She averaged 20.2 points per game during her senior season in 2023-24 and was considered a lock as a first-round pick in the WNBA draft.
That’s exactly what happened. Rickea was selected by the Los Angeles Sparks with the fourth overall pick, becoming the first Michigan charter school alumnus ever to play in the WNBA.
The Sparks suffered a rash of injuries and struggled through the 2024 season, but Rickea had an outstanding individual rookie year, averaging 13.4 points per game and earning a spot on the WNBA All-Rookie Team, alongside Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, among others.
The superstar who got her start at DEPSA has also become one of the most marketable stars in the WNBA, earning a number of high-profile endorsements with Beats by Dre and others. In 2024, she became the first WNBA player to sign a deal with Skechers. She was especially proud to make history with that deal.
"It means a lot. To be the first of anything is just crazy, because you go down in history forever. No one can ever forget the first, no matter what it is. Being that, in itself, has been a blessing,” she told the Detroit Free Press.
Rickea has kept close ties with her alma mater and makes frequent trips back to Detroit to visit with family, friends and her old teachers and coaches at DEPSA. In 2024, the school held a WNBA Draft watch party, as hundreds of people in the DEPSA community came out to cheer when Rickea’s name was called.
“Rickea’s determination and work ethic have been unmatched,” said Rickea’s coach at DEPSA, Monique Brown. “She’s not only an incredible athlete but also a role model for our current students. We’re immensely proud of her accomplishments.”
As the WNBA prepares to open the season on May 16, Rickea will be looking for even bigger things during her second season in the league.
And she can feel confident that not only are the folks back home at DEPSA cheering for her, but so is everyone else in the Michigan charter school community.
There are Michigan charter grads at the top of their fields in every career – airline pilots, researchers, scientists, teachers, doctors – and it’s nice to know that one of the best in women’s basketball is also a proud #MICharterGrad.
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