Women's Basketball
Jackson-Durrett, Dionnah
Dionnah Jackson-Durrett
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Phone:
- 325-0198
Follow Dionnah Jackson-Durrett on Twitter
One of the top up-and-coming young coaches in the nation, Dionnah Jackson-Durrett embarks on her fifth season with the Bulldogs and first as an associate head coach in 2019-20.
An All-America point guard at Oklahoma, Jackson-Durrett’s presence in Starkville has been felt since she arrived in 2015. Working with the point guards, Mississippi State recorded its top three assists marks for a single season each of the last three years under her guidance, including the program record of 602 during the 2017-18 campaign.
Under Jackson-Durrett’s watch, the Bulldogs have ranked inside the top 25 nationally and led the SEC in assists (3x), assists per game (1x) and assist/turnover ratio (2x) a combined six times. During the 2018-19 season, Mississippi State ranked amongst the nation’s best in all three categories, finishing 12th in assists, 15th in assist/turnover ratio and 24th in assists per game, while pacing the SEC in all three categories.
The St. Louis, Missouri, native coached and mentored arguably the two best point guards ever to play for the Bulldogs in Jazzmun Holmes and Morgan William. Both received All-American Honorable Mention recognition from the Associated Press.
Holmes broke the single-season record for assists with 202 in 2018-19, breaking the previous record of 181 held by William. Since the stat started being recorded in 2007-08, Holmes also set the NCAA Division I record for assist/turnover ratio after leading the country with a 4.81 mark. She finished second on State’s career assists list with 476 and is the only player in program history to record multiple games with at least 12 assists.
William, known for her game-winning shot against No. 1 UConn to send the Bulldogs to their first national championship appearance in 2016-17, holds the Mississippi State records for career assists with 656 and career assists per game average at 4.4. She is responsible for three of the top five single-season assist totals in program history. The All-SEC selection became just the second player to ever lead State in assists for four seasons. As a senior, she finished the year third in NCAA Division I in assist/turnover ratio with a 3.7 mark.
With back-to-back Top-15 signing classes, Mississippi State has been recruiting at a high level the last few seasons, and Jackson-Durrett has played a role in that success. This past year, the Bulldogs landed the top signing class in program history, inking the No. 6 group in the nation by ESPN. Rickea Jackson, the fifth-ranked player in the country and State’s first McDonald’s All-American signee, highlighted the group.
Jackson-Durrett made the move to Starkville following a two-year stint on the staff at George Mason, where she worked with the Patriots’ offense and guards.
In her two seasons at George Mason, Jackson-Durrett tutored Taylor Brown to the team’s scoring title both years and second team all-conference honors in 2015 after averaging 21.4 ppg and setting a school single-season record with 643 points.
She broke into the coaching ranks at Southeast Missouri State where she helped Kara Wright to the Ohio Valley Conference All-Newcomer Team, the program’s first all-conference honor since 2008-09, and Bianca Beck to an overseas professional contract in her three years at the school.
While on the staff at Texas A&M, Schaefer became familiar with Jackson-Durrett as he watched her during a heralded four-year career at Oklahoma.
She played 131 games with the Sooners, averaging 11.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.1 steals per contest. Jackson-Durrett claimed honorable mention All-America honors as well as being named a finalist for the Wade and Naismith national player of the year awards.
Jackson-Durrett wrapped her collegiate career in the Top 10 in 17 of Oklahoma’s 22 all-time record lists, including ranking second in assists (606), third in steals (265), fourth in rebounds (829), fifth in blocks (64) and ninth in scoring (1,491).
Her final season at OU also saw her earn First Team All-Big 12 accolades after landing second-team honors her junior and sophomore seasons. As a junior she was also named Big 12 Tournament MVP after leading Oklahoma to the second league title of her career.
In addition to the pair of Big 12 titles, the three-year starter at the point and a three-year team captain led OU to the NCAA Tournament all four years, including the program’s first Final Four and a runner-up as a freshman.
Her stellar career at Oklahoma earned her a first-round selection by the Detroit Shock in the 2005 WNBA Draft.
In 2007, she was picked up by the Chicago Sky and also played in Israel for Maccabi Tel Kabir. Jackson-Durrett also spent tenures playing overseas in Switzerland and Greece.
A St. Louis native, she was the 2001 Missouri Player of the Year and a two-time all-state selection after leading Parkway High School to a 102-12 four-year record.
Jackson earned her degree in mass communication from Oklahoma in 2005 and a master’s degree in higher education administration from Southeast Missouri State in 2013.
She married Jon Durrett in the fall of 2016, and the couple had a daughter, Laila Renee, in January, 2018.
PERSONAL
Hometown: St. Louis, Mo.
Alma Mater: University of Oklahoma (2005)
Spouse: Jon Durrett
Children: Daughter, Laila Renee
COACHING HISTORY
2019-Present: Mississippi State University (1 season - Associate Head Coach)
2015-2019: Mississippi State University (4 seasons - Assistant Coach)
2013-15: George Mason University (2 seasons - Assistant Coach)
2010-13: Southeast Missouri State University (3 seasons - Assistant Coach)
PLAYING EXPERIENCE
2007: Chicago Sky (WNBA)
2007-10: Israeli Premier League
2006-07: Ligue Nationale de Basket A (Switzerland)
2006: San Jose Spiders (NWBL)
2001-05: University of Oklahoma
PLAYING HONORS
1st Round WNBA Draft Pick (Detroit Shock, 2005)
Kodak All-America honorable mention (2005)
Associated Press All-America honorable mention (2005)
Kodak All-District VI All-American (2005)
2005 All-Big 12 First Team (2005)
Wade & Naismith National Plyr. of the Year Finalist (2005)
Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Finalist (2005)
Big 12 Tournament MVP (2004)
All-Big 12 second team (2004, 2003)
Big 12 All-Tournament team (2002)
One of the top up-and-coming young coaches in the nation, Dionnah Jackson-Durrett embarks on her fifth season with the Bulldogs and first as an associate head coach in 2019-20.
An All-America point guard at Oklahoma, Jackson-Durrett’s presence in Starkville has been felt since she arrived in 2015. Working with the point guards, Mississippi State recorded its top three assists marks for a single season each of the last three years under her guidance, including the program record of 602 during the 2017-18 campaign.
Under Jackson-Durrett’s watch, the Bulldogs have ranked inside the top 25 nationally and led the SEC in assists (3x), assists per game (1x) and assist/turnover ratio (2x) a combined six times. During the 2018-19 season, Mississippi State ranked amongst the nation’s best in all three categories, finishing 12th in assists, 15th in assist/turnover ratio and 24th in assists per game, while pacing the SEC in all three categories.
The St. Louis, Missouri, native coached and mentored arguably the two best point guards ever to play for the Bulldogs in Jazzmun Holmes and Morgan William. Both received All-American Honorable Mention recognition from the Associated Press.
Holmes broke the single-season record for assists with 202 in 2018-19, breaking the previous record of 181 held by William. Since the stat started being recorded in 2007-08, Holmes also set the NCAA Division I record for assist/turnover ratio after leading the country with a 4.81 mark. She finished second on State’s career assists list with 476 and is the only player in program history to record multiple games with at least 12 assists.
William, known for her game-winning shot against No. 1 UConn to send the Bulldogs to their first national championship appearance in 2016-17, holds the Mississippi State records for career assists with 656 and career assists per game average at 4.4. She is responsible for three of the top five single-season assist totals in program history. The All-SEC selection became just the second player to ever lead State in assists for four seasons. As a senior, she finished the year third in NCAA Division I in assist/turnover ratio with a 3.7 mark.
With back-to-back Top-15 signing classes, Mississippi State has been recruiting at a high level the last few seasons, and Jackson-Durrett has played a role in that success. This past year, the Bulldogs landed the top signing class in program history, inking the No. 6 group in the nation by ESPN. Rickea Jackson, the fifth-ranked player in the country and State’s first McDonald’s All-American signee, highlighted the group.
Jackson-Durrett made the move to Starkville following a two-year stint on the staff at George Mason, where she worked with the Patriots’ offense and guards.
In her two seasons at George Mason, Jackson-Durrett tutored Taylor Brown to the team’s scoring title both years and second team all-conference honors in 2015 after averaging 21.4 ppg and setting a school single-season record with 643 points.
She broke into the coaching ranks at Southeast Missouri State where she helped Kara Wright to the Ohio Valley Conference All-Newcomer Team, the program’s first all-conference honor since 2008-09, and Bianca Beck to an overseas professional contract in her three years at the school.
While on the staff at Texas A&M, Schaefer became familiar with Jackson-Durrett as he watched her during a heralded four-year career at Oklahoma.
She played 131 games with the Sooners, averaging 11.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.1 steals per contest. Jackson-Durrett claimed honorable mention All-America honors as well as being named a finalist for the Wade and Naismith national player of the year awards.
Jackson-Durrett wrapped her collegiate career in the Top 10 in 17 of Oklahoma’s 22 all-time record lists, including ranking second in assists (606), third in steals (265), fourth in rebounds (829), fifth in blocks (64) and ninth in scoring (1,491).
Her final season at OU also saw her earn First Team All-Big 12 accolades after landing second-team honors her junior and sophomore seasons. As a junior she was also named Big 12 Tournament MVP after leading Oklahoma to the second league title of her career.
In addition to the pair of Big 12 titles, the three-year starter at the point and a three-year team captain led OU to the NCAA Tournament all four years, including the program’s first Final Four and a runner-up as a freshman.
Her stellar career at Oklahoma earned her a first-round selection by the Detroit Shock in the 2005 WNBA Draft.
In 2007, she was picked up by the Chicago Sky and also played in Israel for Maccabi Tel Kabir. Jackson-Durrett also spent tenures playing overseas in Switzerland and Greece.
A St. Louis native, she was the 2001 Missouri Player of the Year and a two-time all-state selection after leading Parkway High School to a 102-12 four-year record.
Jackson earned her degree in mass communication from Oklahoma in 2005 and a master’s degree in higher education administration from Southeast Missouri State in 2013.
She married Jon Durrett in the fall of 2016, and the couple had a daughter, Laila Renee, in January, 2018.
PERSONAL
Hometown: St. Louis, Mo.
Alma Mater: University of Oklahoma (2005)
Spouse: Jon Durrett
Children: Daughter, Laila Renee
COACHING HISTORY
2019-Present: Mississippi State University (1 season - Associate Head Coach)
2015-2019: Mississippi State University (4 seasons - Assistant Coach)
2013-15: George Mason University (2 seasons - Assistant Coach)
2010-13: Southeast Missouri State University (3 seasons - Assistant Coach)
PLAYING EXPERIENCE
2007: Chicago Sky (WNBA)
2007-10: Israeli Premier League
2006-07: Ligue Nationale de Basket A (Switzerland)
2006: San Jose Spiders (NWBL)
2001-05: University of Oklahoma
PLAYING HONORS
1st Round WNBA Draft Pick (Detroit Shock, 2005)
Kodak All-America honorable mention (2005)
Associated Press All-America honorable mention (2005)
Kodak All-District VI All-American (2005)
2005 All-Big 12 First Team (2005)
Wade & Naismith National Plyr. of the Year Finalist (2005)
Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Finalist (2005)
Big 12 Tournament MVP (2004)
All-Big 12 second team (2004, 2003)
Big 12 All-Tournament team (2002)
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