Jackson named 21st head coach in history of Tiger basketball program

Former Cowley College assistant coach Donnie Jackson is returning to the school after being named the 21^st head coach in the history of the Tiger men's basketball program. Jackson was highly sought after by a number of schools following a stellar eight-year run as head coach at Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa.

Jackson is no stranger to Cowley as he previously spent four years as an assistant coach at the school before becoming the head coach at Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa where he built the Mavericks into a national contender.

Jackson's overall record at Northern Oklahoma College was 183-69 (72.6%). He led the Mavs to a 96-38 (71.6%) record in Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference play, while guiding the team to a 13-8 overall mark in tournament play.

The hiring was approved during a special meeting of Cowley College's Board of Trustees on Wednesday afternoon in the President's Private Dining Room located in the McAtee Dining Center.

"Everyone is excited about Donnie coming back," Cowley athletic director Shane Larson said. "Having been successful here as an assistant coach and then going on and making a name for himself as a head coach, he was highly sought after by a number of schools in the Jayhawk Conference. His connection to Cowley put us in position to get Donnie to return to Cowley. We are extremely excited to have him back in Orange and as a part of the Tiger family."

This past season he led NOC to a record of 24-2 and helped the Mavs advance to the Elite Eight at the NJCAA Division I National Tournament where they lost to eventual national champion, Coffeyville, in overtime. NOC won the conference title and were Region 2 champs.

The Mavericks also received an at-large bid for the 2020 NJCAA Division I National Tournament. That bid qualified the Mavs for the tournament for the first time in 20 years.

Jackson played and coached under former Cowley College head coach Tommy DeSalme, who recently left to become the new head coach at Hutchinson Community College. Another feather under Jackson's cap is that he went 11-5 against his former mentor, DeSalme, including winning the last four head-to-head matchups.

"With Donnie's hiring, we look forward to the Cowley and Hutchinson rivalry continuing," Larson said.

Jackson played two seasons at Sterling College (2000-2002), playing for DeSalme his senior year. Following his senior season, he was named an NAIA Honorable Mention All-American and a Unanimous First Team All-KCAC player after averaging 14.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game and helping the Warriors to a 19-11 overall mark.

Jackson then spent four seasons as an assistant coach to DeSalme at Sterling College before moving to Kansas Wesleyan. While at Sterling, he helped lead the Warriors to two NAIA national tournament appearances (2004 and 2006), a KCAC conference tournament championship and four consecutive second place conference finishes (2003-2006).

Jackson spent one season as an assistant coach at Kansas Wesleyan University, helping to lead the Coyotes to a 28-4 record as well as a 2007 KCAC conference and postseason championship. Kansan Wesleyan also had a 19 game winning streak.  The Coyotes advanced to the second round of the NAIA National Tournament and finished with a No. 6 national ranking.

He then spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Independence Community College, aiding the Pirates to a record of 45-19 overall and 29-7 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division. Indy also advanced to two Region VI quarterfinals. In his first year, he assisted in leading Independence to a 26-6 overall record, a No. 16 national ranking and a second place conference finish. Independence also had a 21 game winning streak.

Jackson followed DeSalme to Cowley where he helped lead the Tigers to 91 wins in his four years at the college. Cowley also captured a conference title and finished in the top three in the conference each of those four seasons (2010-2013). The Tigers appeared in two Region VI quarterfinals, one Region VI semifinal and one Region VI finals appearance. The program produced Iowa State signee Tyrus McGee, Creighton signee James Milliken, Kansas State signee James Watson and Duquesne signee Dominique McKoy, among others. McGee, a First Team NJCAA All-American, finished as the third all-time leading scorer in Cowley history and was named Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year and Jayhawk East Player of the Year. While, Milliken finished as the sixth all-time leading scorer in Tiger history.

As the top assistant coach for DeSalme for 11 seasons, Jackson helped compile a 230-119 overall record, including a 136-59 record in his six seasons as a junior college coach. Combine that with his head coaching record of 183-69, and Jackson has been a part of 413 wins in 19 seasons.

"I want to bring what I learned at NOC and sustain the level of success coach DeSalme has had at Cowley," Jackson said. "I always felt Cowley was home to me and wanted to prove at NOC that I was worthy of being a head coach at a great Jayhawk Conference school. When the opportunity arose, it was an absolute no-brainer for me to want to come back home."

DeSalme leaves Cowley as the winningest coach in the history of the program, having gone 239-143 in 12 seasons.

At NOC, Jackson has led the Mavericks to two sixth place NJCAA finishes in overall team GPA in men's basketball. (3.06 in 2015-16 and 3.23 in 2016-17). The Mavs also finished with a team GPA of 3.1 in 2019-20, good for 29th overall nationally. 

Jackson helped place 27 NCAA Division I players, 24 NCAA Division II players, three NCAA Division three players, and 17 NAIA players in his 14-year junior college coaching career. A total of 17 NOC Mavs signed with NCAA Division I schools in his. He also coached five NJCAA All-Americans, two Jayhawk East Players of the Year, two Jayhawk East Freshmen of the Year, two OCAC- Freshman of the Year, 21 All-Conference players (12 first-team), 16 All-Region players (10 first-team) and 12 All-Tournament Team players. Eleven players have gone on and played professionally, including two in the NBA Summer League.

"I will forever be indebted to NOC, because there I learned to be who I am as a coach," Jackson said. "Coach DeSalme is still a mentor to me, but I needed to go to NOC and be a head coach."

The 2019-20 season was one for the record books. The NOC Mavs finished the season ranked No. 7 nationally with a 28-4 overall mark and were selected for an at-large bid for the NJCAA National Tournament. The Mavs finished with the best overall record in school history, prior to the 2020-2021 team's success. The Mavs finished OCAC play 13-3 overall (second place) and reached the Region 2 semifinals. Three Mavs garnered postseason recognition.

In 2018-19, the Mavs finished the season with a 20-12 overall record and a 10-6 finish in OCAC play, which was good for third place overall. Jackson also led the Mavs back to the OCAC semifinals. Two Mavs garnered postseason recognition, while all seven sophomores moved on to four-year schools.

In 2017-18, the Mavs finished the season with a 24-8 overall record and a 12-4 finish in OCAC play, which was good for second place overall. He also led the Mavs to the OCAC semifinals. Two Mavs garnered postseason recognition. The Mavs were also ranked as high as No. 24 nationally during the course of the season. NOC also had a 12-game winning streak and reached the 20+ win milestone for the third consecutive season.  

In his fourth season, Jackson led the Mavericks to a 23-10 overall mark and a 10-6 finish in OCAC play, which was good for third overall. He also led the Mavericks to the Region 2 championship game for the second consecutive season and finished as Region II runner-up. Three players garnered postseason recognition for the Mavericks and all six sophomores signed with four-year universities. Two Mavericks were also named to the NJCAA Academic All-American Third Team.

In his 3rd season, Jackson led the Mavericks to at the time was one of the best seasons in school history. The Mavs finished the season 26-7 and ranked No. 25 nationally in the final NJCAA poll. They finished 15-3 in OCAC play, good for second place, and advanced to the Region II championship game and finished as Region II runner-up. Jackson was also named 2016 Region II Coach of the Year, as voted on by his peers. The Mavs also had a 12 game winning streak and all five sophomores graduated and signed with four-year universities.

In Jackson's second season, the Mavs finished with a 19-12 overall record and finished second in conference play at 12-6, which included winning eight conference games in a row. All six sophomores signed with four-year universities.

In Jackson's first season at the helm, he led the Mavericks to a 19-14 overall record and a 9-9 mark in conference play. He also led the Mavs to the Region II semifinals. All six sophomores graduated and moved on to four-year programs.

Just as his NOC teams did, Jackson will be taking over a program that has qualified for each of the past two national tournaments.

"I know the expectations will be high and we look forward to maintaining that success," Jackson said. "With me, Cowley is getting a blue collar, hard-working attitude. My teams are going to play team ball and be a great defensive team. We will work to find guys that mesh well as a team, on campus, and in the community."

A graduate of Highland Park High School in Topeka, Kan., Jackson played two seasons (1998-2000) in the Jayhawk Conference at Allen County Community College before continuing at Sterling College. He completed his undergraduate degree in Exercise Science at Sterling and his graduate degree at Fort Hays State University.

He has two children, Jaxson and Emory.