Sports

Actions

UMKC hires Texas assistant Jackson-Durrett as women’s basketball head coach

KC_NewWBBCoach_Insta.jpeg
Posted at 1:21 PM, Mar 30, 2022
and last updated 2022-03-31 16:16:14-04

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Dionnah Jackson-Durrett has been hired as the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s new women’s basketball coach.

The school announced Jackson-Durrett’s hiring Wednesday. She comes to the Roos after spending the last two seasons as an associate head coach at the University of Texas.

“I’m honored and ecstatic to be a part of the Kansas City Athletics family,” said Jackson-Durrett, a St. Louis native and former first-round pick in the WNBA Draft, in a statement from the school. “Throughout the process, the energy has been amazing, and my decision developed organically. I’m supposed to be here, I feel it in my heart.”

The job came open when former Roos coach Jacie Hoyt left last week to become the head coach at Oklahoma State University.

"We are delighted to have Dionnah as a part of our Kansas City family," UMKC Athletic Director Brandon Martin said in a statement. "Not only does she have impeccable integrity, her basketball acumen and coaching pedigree is unmatched. She is a phenomenal leader and teacher of the nuances of basketball, and a maven of life skill development and championing academic excellence. Dionnah will further elevate our departmental mantra of comprehensive excellence."

Jackson-Durrett was the Missouri High School Player of the Year in 2001 at Parkway High School and went on to earn All-Big 12 and All-American honorable mention honors at the University of Oklahoma.

In addition to Texas, Jackson-Durrett also served as an assistant at Mississippi State, George Mason and Missouri State.