SWAC Basketball: Top 10 head coaches of the century (2000-20)

9. Donte Jackson – Grambling State (2017-2020)

Jackson’s road to Grambling State has been an interesting one, with the young coach gaining much of his coaching experience at Central State, his alma mater. He spent time as head coach at two D2 programs, both his alma mater and Stillman before Grambling hired him in 2017. He inherited a Grambling State program among the worst in all of D1, though one that had taken a step forward before his arrival.

Jackson has had a great impact with this Tigers program. In his first season, they won their first SWAC regular-season title in nearly three issues, though academic issues prevented a chance for a postseason appearance. In his three seasons, he’s actually won 63% of games in the SWAC, while appearing in the CIT in 2019. His teams have won an identical 17 games in all three seasons and have been quite consistent since he took over the program.

While just three years on the job, Jackson has done amazing work when you consider where this program was at the beginning of the decade. He’s put Grambling State in as great a position as they’ve ever seen and has the Tigers primed to make their first NCAA Tournament one day soon.