Dannton Jackson has compiled an impressive list of accomplishments and accolades during more than a decade as the head coach of men's basketball at Xavier University of Louisiana.
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Jackson's success with the Gold Rush includes:
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• Winningest coach in the program's history. He earned that distinction when Xavier won 71-66 at Spring Hill on Dec. 17, 2013. The 2015-16 season will be Jackson's 13th as head coach, and he'll enter the season with a career record of 273-117.
• One of just three Louisiana men's basketball coaches to reach 20 victories 10 times — the others were hall-of-famers Fred Hobdy (14) and Dale Brown (10).
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• Nearly 23 victories per season.
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• Five Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season championships, including 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14. Jackson and William Carey's Steve Knight are the only GCAC men's basketball coaches to win five regular-season championships. Jackson and SUNO's Earl Hill are the only GCAC coaches to win three consecutive regular-season titles.
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• Of the 36 seniors to play for Jackson, 34 received bachelor's degrees from Xavier or are still enrolled at XU.
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• Nine appearances at the Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I National Championship, including a school-record active streak of five in a row from 2011-15. Jackson is the only XU men's basketball coach to reach the NAIA's national tournament more than three times.
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• Ten 20-game winners, including each of the last five seasons. His first five Gold Rush teams (2002-03 through 2007-08) all reached 20 victories.
• Kelechi Okoroha in 2008-09 became the university's first College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District selection. Okoroha also was a three-time Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar.
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• GCAC Coach of the Year in 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14. In 2013-14, Jackson became the only coach to win the award three consecutive seasons. Also in 2013-14, Jackson was chosen Louisiana Small College Coach of the Year by the Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches.
• Selection as a court coach for the 2012 USA Basketball Men's U18 National Team.
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• 87 appearances in the NAIA Division I Coaches' Top 25 — 62 appearances in the last 63 polls through March 11, 2015. The Gold Rush have 49 consecutive top-25 appearances, the longest active streak in NAIA Division I men's basketball.
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Jackson's record-setting victory against Spring Hill in 2013 surpassed his predecessor, Dale Valdery, who was 234-136 from 1990-2002. Xavier's 74-50 victory at Fisk on Feb. 20, 2012, was Jackson's 200th as head coach. That made him the third consecutive Gold Rush coach to reach 200 victories.
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Xavier's 74 victories from 2010-11 through 2012-13 made it the winningest three years for the Gold Rush since 75 victories from 1937-38 through 1939-40.
His winningest team was in 2010-11, when the Rush finished 27-6 after a 13-0 start, the best in the program since 1940-41. He led Xavier in an 82-79 upset of third-ranked Georgetown (Ky.) in 2007 — its first victory at the NAIA national tourney since 1973.
Xavier's other GCAC championships during Jackson's tenure occurred in 2003-04 — when a 23-8 record made the Gold Rush the winningest men's team in Louisiana that season — and in 2006-07, when the Rush rebounded from a season's layoff after dealing with the effects of Hurricane Katrina. Three times the Gold Rush were the GCAC Tournament runner-up (2008, 2011, 2015).
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Jackson's teams participate annually in community service with a special interest in feeding the homeless.
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Jackson was given additional duties in September 2013 as Xavier's interim athletics director. He replaced Dennis Cousin, who retired after nine years. Jackson was the interim AD for seven months until the arrival of Jason Horn on March 31, 2014.
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Jackson succeeded Valdery as head coach in June 2002 after four seasons as Valdery's assistant. Jackson was the associate head coach in 2001-02. Jackson also has served Xavier as an assistant coach in women's basketball (1993-97), head coach of men's and women's cross country (1994-96) and interim athletics director in 2004. He also spent one season (1997-98) as a men's basketball assistant coach at Virginia State University in Petersburg, Va.
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During his four seasons as the women's basketball assistant, the Gold Nuggets won 83 percent of their games, swept the GCAC regular-season and tournament championships and won first-round games at the NAIA Division I National Championship in 1995, 1996 and 1997.
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Jackson served as president of the Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches in 2008-09. In 2010-11, he was the first African-American to serve as president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches-NAIA Division.
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Jackson was a summer coach for an adidas-sponsored age-group travel team, the New Orleans Jazz, and he designs individual training regimens for local NBA players during their offseason. He also directed the Michael Jordan Basketball Camp in New Orleans, and he has served multiple years as summer hoops clinic director for New Orleans' NBA franchise.
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Two of Jackson's Jazz players — New Orleanians DJ Augustin (Texas/Charlotte Bobcats) and Shan Foster (Vanderbilt/Dallas Mavericks) — were NBA draft picks in 2008. Augustin played for the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2014-15. Another of Jackson's Jazz players, Brandon Bass, has played nine NBA seasons. The 2014-15 season was the fourth for Bass with the Boston Celtics.
Others Jackson coached with the Jazz included Glen "Big Baby" Davis of the Los Angeles Clippers, Mo Williams of the Charlotte Hornets, Garrett Temple of the Washington Wizards and Tasmin Mitchell, who scored nearly 2,000 career points at LSU.
Jackson, 44, is a native of Los Angeles and grew up there. He is a graduate of Sherman Oaks CES, a high school in suburban Reseda, Calif. Jackson was a basketball letterman at Xavier and earned his bachelor of arts degree in political science in 1992. He added a second XU degree, a master of arts in education administration, in 1996.
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| Dannton Jackson's record as head coach of Xavier men's basketball |
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| —All Games— | —GCAC Games— | |
| Season | W | L | Pct. | | W | L | Pct. | Rank | GCAC Tournament | NAIA Tournament | Final NAIA Poll |
| 2002-03 | 22 | 12 | .647 | | 9 | 7 | .563 | tie-3rd | 1-1, Semifinals | — | RV (tie-37th) |
| 2003-04 | 23 | 8 | .742 | | 13 | 5 | .722 | tie-1st | 0-1, Quarterfinals | 1st Round | 22nd |
| 2004-05 | 24 | 10 | .706 | | 13 | 5 | .722 | 3rd | 1-1, Semifinals | 1st Round | RV (26th) |
| 2005-06 | no team due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina |
| 2006-07 | 22 | 10 | .688 | | 13 | 5 | .722 | tie-1st | 1-1, Semifinals | Final 16 | RV (tie-27th) |
| 2007-08 | 24 | 10 | .706 | | 12 | 6 | .667 | 3rd | 2-1, 2nd Place | 1st Round | RV (28th) |
| 2008-09 | 19 | 12 | .613 | | 11 | 7 | .611 | tie-4th | 0-1, Quarterfinals | — | — |
| 2009-10 | 18 | 13 | .581 | | 9 | 9 | .500 | 6th | 0-1, Quarterfinals | — | — |
| 2010-11 | 27 | 6 | .818 | | 4 | 2 | .667 | — | 1-1, 2nd Place | 1st Round | 17th |
| 2011-12 | 23 | 9 | .719 | | 11 | 3 | .786 | tie-1st | 1-1, Semifinals | 1st Round | 24th |
| 2012-13 | 24 | 8 | .750 | | 11 | 3 | .786 | tie-1st | 0-1, Quarterfinals | 1st Round | 24th |
| 2013-14 | 23 | 9 | .719 | | 10 | 2 | .833 | 1st | 1-1, Semifinals | 1st Round | tie-16th |
| 2014-15 | 24 | 10 | .706 | | 11 | 3 | .786 | 2nd | 2-1, 2nd Place | 1st Round | TBA |
| 12 Years | 273 | 117 | .700 | | 127 | 57 | .690 | 5 titles | 10-12 | 9 trips, 1-9 record | final top 25: 5 times |
| Xavier's highest NAIA rank during Jackson's tenure: 7th on Jan. 27, 2004 |
