# Donte Jackson (basketball)

Donte Jackson (born January 19, 1979) is an American college basketball coach, currently head coach for the Grambling State Tigers of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). In 2024, he led the Tigers to their first SWAC tournament championship in program history and their first ever NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

## Playing career

After a standout high school career in his hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Jackson attended Milwaukee for one season. Jackson transferred to Central State where he was an all-conference and all-region selection during the 2001–2002 season, and part of the Marauders' NAIA Division I National Tournament Sweet 16 squad from the 1999–2000 season.

## Coaching career

After his playing career, Jackson became an assistant coach at his alma mater, and was in the position for seven years before being elevated to head coach in 2010. In his four years at Central State, Jackson compiled a 60–42 record, before accepting the head coaching position at Stillman. In two seasons as a member of the SIAC, Jackson led Stillman to a 44–16 record, winning the SIAC men's basketball tournament championship in 2016 and reaching the regional semifinals of the 2016 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament. After 2016, the school dropped from NCAA Division II to NAIA. In its first year as a NAIA Independent, Jackson guided the team to a 22–5 record.
On June 28, 2017, Jackson was officially named the head coach at Grambling State.
In his first year with the Tigers, Jackson guided Grambling to its first SWAC regular season title since 1989. However, due to low APR scores, Grambling was ineligible for conference tournament and postseason play. For his efforts, Jackson was named 2018 SWAC Coach of the Year, and was the recipient of the 2018 Ben Jobe Award, as well.

## Head coaching record
### NCAA DII/NAIA

Statistics overview :
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason |
| Central State Marauders (Division II Independent/G-MAC) (2010–2014) ||||||
| 2010–11 | Central State | 14–12 | N/A | | |
| 2011–12 | Central State | 19–9 | N/A | | |
| 2012–13 | Central State | 11–10* | 2–2 | 2nd | |
| 2013–14 | Central State | 16–11** | 7–5 | 3rd | |
| Central State: | Central State: | 60–42 (.588) | 9–7 (.563) | | |
| Stillman Tigers (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (2014–2016) ||||||
| 2014–15 | Stillman | 17–10 | 13–6 | 1st (West) | |
| 2015–16 | Stillman | 27–6 | 17–1 | 1st (West) | NCAA Division II Round of 32 |
| Stillman Tigers (NAIA Independent) (2016–2017) ||||||
| 2016–17 | Stillman | 22–5 | – | – | |
| Stillman: | Stillman: | 66–21 (.759) | 30–7 (.811) | | |
| Total: | Total: | 126–63 (.667) | | | |
| National champion   Postseason invitational champion   Conference regular season champion   Conference regular season and conference tournament champion  Division regular season champion  Division regular season and conference tournament champion  Conference tournament champion ||||||
* Six wins vacated by NCAA
** Two wins vacated by NCAA

### NCAA DI

Statistics overview :
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason |
| Grambling State Tigers (Southwestern Athletic Conference) (2017–present) ||||||
| 2017–18 | Grambling State | 17–14 | 13–5 | 1st | |
| 2018–19 | Grambling State | 17–17 | 10–8 | T–3rd | CIT First Round |
| 2019–20 | Grambling State | 17–15 | 11–7 | T–4th | |
| 2020–21 | Grambling State | 11–11 | 9–6 | 4th | |
| 2021–22 | Grambling State | 12–20 | 9–9 | T–6th | |
| 2022–23 | Grambling State | 22–8 | 15–3 | T–1st | |
| 2023–24 | Grambling State | 21–15 | 14–4 | 1st | NCAA Division I Round of 64 |
| 2024–25 | Grambling State | 12–22 | 7–11 | 8th | |
| Grambling State: | Grambling State: | 129–122 (.514) | 88–53 (.624) | | |
| Total: | Total: | 129–122 (.514) | | | |
| National champion   Postseason invitational champion   Conference regular season champion   Conference regular season and conference tournament champion  Division regular season champion  Division regular season and conference tournament champion  Conference tournament champion ||||||