“My basketball dream is to make the NBA. But my life dream is just to pretty much just make the best life I can for myself and my family” – Jackson Kiss.
The sky is the limit for 18-year-old Jackson Kiss a Tongan-Fijian teenager who has been making a name for himself on the High school circuit in the United States (US).
Now he’s set to take up a place at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) to play in the NCAA Div 1, the top college basketball competition in the US.
For the last three years the now 6 ft 8 in athlete has been playing High School basketball at ‘Utah Prep’.
Back in Auckland for a break, Jackson kept in shape with Auckland Boys Grammar’s top basketball team coached by Tall Blacks legend Lindsay Tait.
It was Tait who first spotted his raw talent at a basketball tournament, taking him under his wing.
“I said, man, that kid looks pretty special. Just from a pure basketball talent perspective,” Tait recalls.
In 2021 Jackson made the Hoop Nation Junior Showcase and he was still on a rugby scholarship. His Auckland City Basketball 13U team took out the tournament with Jackson taking MVP.
“We went down to that tournament when nobody really knew who Jackson was
and he won the most valuable player of the entire tournament,” Tait says.
Not long after he was headed to a tournament in Baltimore and within a couple of years he was playing high school ball at Utah Prep. He started making a name for himself with US scout Adam Finkelstein calling him “unconventional but gifted”.
Fast forward to 2026 and the versatile forward and centre, is ranked among the top 100 overall recruits in the class of 2026.
Tait says that Jackson has given hope to those who haven’t made it into the normal basketball system in Aotearoa
“When Jackson got into this thing, you had to play representative association basketball in order to make a New Zealand national team. And at the time, that was something that Jackson wasn’t doing,” says Tait.
“He still managed to make a New Zealand team. And I, I don’t know if anybody’s actually done that before.”
Jackson has two sisters and has been relaxing at home with his family. His mother Jeanie says their family and culture means everything.
“I was born and raised in Tonga and it’s important because the values that I was instilled in, I want to pass on to my children,” Jeanie says.
“I want them to grow up being proud to be Polynesian, to be Tongan, particularly, and Jackson, as well for Fijian, because his Dad is Fijian. It just means, it means a lot.”
Jackson recalls how he could have chosen rugby like his uncle, former All Black Charles Riechelmann but basketball stole his heart.
“I played for Lindsay’s basketball club, Auckland City Basketball, I think it was on Saturdays. We just play games for fun. Then I went to Sacred Heart, played rugby. I loved rugby.
“And then once Lindsay kind of picked me up, my whole mindset just changed to basketball,” Jackson says.
The young basketballer says that he owes everything to his family, especially his mum.
“As a single mother, just kind of raising me and my sisters growing up, she did everything she could to help me and my sister’s and get to where we are now. So, yeah, I’m forever indebted to her.
“But, you know, she’s my rock, she’s my heart. Yeah, pretty much my everything, so it all goes out to my mum.”
As for Jackson’s Basketball dreams, one thing’s for sure, he’s shooting for the stars.
“My basketball dream is to make the NBA. But my life dream is just to pretty much just make the best life I can for myself and my family. You know, especially for my mom and my nana and everything.”
