His time in Slovenia was made difficult by a groin injury which kept him sidelined for a month. He also had difficulty adjusting to a new style of play.
"It was different because I was a little homesick leaving," he said.
"Their style is a little different, the coaching style is definitely different to my game and it just didn't seem to click all the time. It was just something I tried to force myself to do, but it was a great learning experience playing against guys that I used to play with and against so it was good competition out there."
But the 28-year-old American said returning to New Zealand was always a priority for him.
"This is the first choice ... this just felt like the right thing to do. My family could tell by the look on my face and how much I glowed about wanting to come back."
Having enjoyed great success under former Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis, Jackson is looking forward to advancing his game under Dean Vickerman.
"This is Dean's show now and we had a chance while I was here to play five-on-five so he threw in some of his plays, so I know he has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. Dean knows my style of game and he definitely knows how to put players in the right positions to be successful. We have a lot of talent ... so as long as we can run and, first of all, play great defence I'm pretty sure everything else will be all right."
The Breakers will go to Perth for the first game of the new season on October 10, then make their first home appearance against Adelaide at Vector Arena on October 17.
Breakers roster
Cedric Jackson, Rhys Carter, Corey Webster, Reuben Te Rangi, Tom Abercrombie, Mika Vukona, Duane Bailey, Tai Wesley, Ekene Ibekwe, Alex Pledger, Shea Ili, Brad Anderson, Jordan Ngatai, Yuat Alok, Tai Wynyard
