Crissa Jackson Biography

Crissa Jackson, also known as “Ace” Jackson, was born on October 26, 1989, in La Mesa, California, to James and Teresa Jackson. She was raised in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and has three siblings: JJ, Aleena, and Marilyn.

She began playing basketball with her father at age 7. She attended the SciTech High School and the Susquehanna Township High School.

She and her family then moved to Glendale, Arizona, where Crissa joined the Mountain Ridge High School and played for their team.

In 2007, she joined the Basketball Academy’s 7-month post-graduate program at IMG Academies.

As she grew up, she initially played for Savannah State University and then joined the team of the Point Loma Nazarene University in California.

Her father has been her greatest inspiration in life, apart from her Mountain Ridge coach, Patti Resetar.

At 7, Crissa Jackson began learning basketball from her father, James. Crissa attended a Harlem Globetrotters game as a child and loved watching them play.

She studied the tactics of players such as Alan Iverson by watching DVDs of their games. James had once told her that she was “too small” to pay basketball but appreciated her talent and called her “Iversina.” She also skipped middle-school trips to watch training videos and practice Iverson’s crossover dribble.

Later, she joined a basketball camp of Chris “Handles” Franklin in Harrisburg. Franklin had played for the Harlem Globetrotters earlier and was the reason Crissa wished to play for the club.

Crissa kept in touch with Chris after she left Harrington and moved to the Savannah State University (SSU), where she played as a point guard.

One of her IMG coaches was a friend of SSU coach Cedric Baker, and he recommended Crissa for the place left vacant by Ivy Smith. She thus joined SSU on basketball scholarship in the fall 2008 semester and was named to their team, the Savannah State Tigers.

She played for NCAA DI Savanna State for two seasons, under Baker. At Savanna, Criss was a first team all-league selection and a team MVP. She averaged 9.3 points and 3.5 assists in her junior year. She was an All-American (All-Independent) second team pick. She then joined the team of the Point Loma Nazarene University in California.

Later, Chris called Crissa and told her that the Globetrotters were hosting tryouts in Philadelphia. Crissa gave it a try. In late 2015, she became the 13th woman to play for the Harlem Globetrotters.

Crissa Jackson is married to her long-time partner, Alexis. They got married on December 18, 2017. Alexis is a strong supporter of LGBTQ rights and body positivity and uses Instagram to express her views.

Crissa had realized she was a lesbian when she had joined college. However, she was initially in denial. In her freshman year, Crissa began dating a girl and soon accepted her sexuality.

Alexis and Crissa had first met at a San Diego club on Alexis’s birthday. They had started talking and then danced all night. They eventually exchanged numbers and began dating. Alexis was a chain-smoker earlier but quit the habit before she officially started dating Crissa.

Crissa was Alexis’s second lesbian partner but the first fully lesbian partner. Crissa now lives with Alexis and their daughter, Olive, in New York City. Alexis had had Olive when she was 19. When Crissa and Alexis began dating, Olive was 4.

Apart from being a skilled basketball player, Crissa Jackson is a comedian, actor, model, motivational speaker, and social-media influencer.

Crissa Jackson has endorsed brands such as Champion Apparel, Red Bull, Pantene Pro-V, Amazon Music, Beats by Dre, Under Armour, Foot by the Fruit, Converse, Brand Jordan, Reebok, and Kizbop.

She has been featured in publications such as Rolling Stone, Self, Forbes, and ESPN/SportsCenter.

Crissa Jackson is also a philanthropist and runs her own women empowerment non-profit, I Am Movement, Inc., which works primarily for girls aged 6–18. She is also an advocate of human rights and animal welfare. She has three dogs.

She is a big fan of Michael Jackson. She believes she is much more than a basketball player.

The three things that she feels fortunate about are that she belongs to a community that accepts her, that she can be an inspiration to others, and that she loves her job.

Crissa Jackson is most popular on TikTok, where her account, crissa_ace, has gained more than 203.3 million likes and over 8.5 million fans. She loves filming her TikTok videos at various locations, as that allows her to travel. Her funny and creative clips show her spinning and dribbling to songs.

Crissa’s Twitter account, Crissa_Ace1, was launched in December 2013 and has more than 3 thousand followers. Her Instagram account, crissa_ace, has over 477 thousand followers. On Facebook, she has more than 33 thousand followers and over 17 thousand likes.

Her self-titled YouTube channel, launched on November 6, 2013, has gained more than 55 thousand subscribers and over a million views. She has her own website and will be launching her merchandise soon.