Basketball Tournament Born From Altadena Tragedy Returns to Honor New Scholars

Fifteen years after a teenager was shot and killed outside a party in Altadena, the basketball tournament created in his name has helped send 93 young people to college.

The 12th Annual Brandon Jackson Memorial Scholarship and Basketball Classic returns Saturday, May 16, at Pasadena City College’s Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium — the first year the event has been held at PCC and the first under its new nonprofit home, Empower U. The all-day tournament has awarded more than $177,000 in scholarships to underserved students since 2011, according to the organization.

Brandon Jackson was an 18-year-old John Muir High School student, football player, and recipient of the school’s Mustangs Achievement Award when he was shot and killed on February 12, 2011, while leaving a party in Altadena. David Williams, Jackson’s AAU basketball coach, created the scholarship and basketball classic later that year.

“It started out as myself being a grieving coach and mentor for Brandon Jackson,” Williams told Pasadena Now in a 2025 interview. “I initially just wanted to honor him for young man that had overcome so many obstacles to finally achieve the opportunity to be able to attend college.”

What began as one coach’s response to violence has grown into what the organization describes as a grassroots pipeline to higher education, with past recipients attending institutions including Howard University, UCLA, Pepperdine, UC Riverside, and Morehouse, according to prior news coverage. The event has been held annually since 2011, with the exception of a three-year hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Williams, the founder and executive director of Empower U, formed the organization as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in November 2024, organizing a board and operations committee to oversee and expand the scholarship program. The organization says it targets high-achieving, low-income college hopefuls in the Pasadena and Altadena area, primarily students of color with barriers to higher education.

“The whole idea of establishing a 501 and under the name of Empower U was to empower students, but then also to empower those that are in our community that also have to overcome obstacles,” Williams said.

The program has relied on personal relationships and community contributions rather than institutional grants, Williams has said. “All of the money that we’ve raised have come through personal relationships, knocking on doors, reaching out to folks in the community,” he told the Los Angeles Sentinel in 2025.

“I wanted to be a solution, help to be a solution to the problem and try to bring a community together that was grieving,” Williams told Pasadena Now. “We feel like we do bring the community together, create love for one another, and also just send the message to the students that there’s hope and that they’re loved and they’re supported also.”

At 2 p.m. during the tournament, Williams will pause the games for a “Scholarship Time-out” to present checks to the 2026 Brandon Jackson Scholars.

The event runs 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium, 1570 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. Tickets are $15 at the door. Teams can register at empowerutoexcel.org. Contact Jean Grant at (213) 327-4412 (text) for information.