Dionnah Jackson returns to Southeast Missouri State for her third season on the women’s basketball coaching staff, her second under head coach Ty Margenthaler. The St. Louis native just completed a five-year professional playing career overseas.
Jackson will assist in the coaching the Redhawks’ offense and work closely with their guards. Her other duties include assisting with player development, academics, scouting, recruiting, overseeing team travel, fundraising, camps and other administrative roles.
During the 2011-12 season, Jackson helped point guard Bianca Beck post her finest season with the Redhawks. After averaging only 3.9 points per game and dishing out a meager 44 assists as a junior, Beck averaged a career-high 7.0 points and 4.1 assists per game while putting together a 1.32 assist to turnover ratio. Beck’s development over the past year earned her a professional contract overseas.
Jackson played four seasons at the University of Oklahoma under the tutelage of coaching legend Sherri Coale. As a three-year starting point guard and three-time team captain, Jackson cracked the top-ten in 17 of Oklahoma’s 22 all-time records lists, most notably finishing her career second in assists (606), third in steals (265), fourth in rebounds (829), fifth in blocked shots (64) and ninth in points scored (1,491).
In 131 games, she averaged 11.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.1 steals per game. She was an honorable mention All-American selection and Wade & Naismith National Player of the Year finalist her senior season.
She averaged 14.6 points, 8.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 2.2 steals per game in her final collegiate season. Jackson was named to the All-Big 12 first team after garnering second team honors her junior and sophomore seasons.
As a junior, she was named the Big 12 Tournament’s Most Valuable Player after leading the Sooners to the second of two conference championships during her playing career. As a freshman, she appeared in all 36 games and was a key player in the Sooner’s first-ever Final Four appearance and a runner-up finish for the NCAA Women’s National Title.
The St. Louis, Mo. native culminated a brilliant collegiate playing career by being selected in the First Round of the 2005 WNBA Draft by the Detroit Shock. During the 2007 season she was a member of the Chicago Sky.
During her final season in Israel for Maccabi Tel Kabir in Tel Aviv, she averaged 15.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Jackson also played for teams in Switzerland and Greece prior to competing in Israel.
Jackson played her high school basketball at Parkway West High School in St. Louis where she was named the Missouri Player of the Year in 2001. She was a two-time All-State selection and led her team to a 102-12 record during her four-year playing career.
Jackson earned her degree in Mass Communications from Oklahoma in 2005 and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Higher Education at Southeast.
