Former Gamecock Jamacia Jackson found dead at 26

Former Sumter High and University of South Carolina football player Jamacia Jackson was found dead at home in Sumter early this morning.

Details surrounding his death have not been released. An autopsy is scheduled for later this week.

"To the best of our knowledge, he was found dead in bed at 5 a.m.," Sumter athletics director Donna Bisom said.

The 26-year-old Jackson represented Sumter High in the 1999 Shrine Bowl before enrolling at USC for the 2000 season. After a redshirt year, he played safety and special teams for the Gamecocks from 2001-2004.

As a senior in 2004, Jackson recorded 59 tackles, placing third on the team, and intercepted two passes.

Jackson signed a free agent contract with the Tennessee Titans in 2005, but was waived during training camp. He spent a year on the practice squad for the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes and attended training camp with the Berlin Thunder of NFL Europe in 2006 before signing with the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats in January 2007.

He recorded five tackles for Hamilton last season and, according to Bisom, had been lifting weights at Sumter High in anticipation of returning to Canada for the 2008 season.

"He was one of our shining stars here at Sumter High School for all four of his high school years," Bisom said. "A blue-chipper and a great kid. This has hit our Gamecock family very, very hard. Anytime one of own loses his life its very traumatic for those of us who knew him and watched him grow."