Grambling State’s Jackson named Ben Jobe National Coach of the Year

Grambling State University men’s basketball head coach Donté Jackson has been named the 2024 Ben Jobe National Coach of the Year.

The award is presented annually to the top minority head coach in Division I college basketball.

The reigning Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Coach of the Year followed up a dominant campaign from last year with an even more impressive run this season.

This year, Jackson led Grambling State to its first-ever Division I NCAA Tournament berth after winning the 2024 SWAC Tournament.

In the NCAA Tournament, GSU won its first tournament game after rallying from a 14-point deficit to defeat Montana State 88-81 in overtime in the First Four in Dayton, Ohio.

This season, Jackson also claimed his second SWAC regular season championship in row, his third overall.

Grambling State wrapped up the regular season with a 14-4 record in conference play and 21-15 overall.

Jackson also claimed his 100th victory as head coach of GSU and currently has 120 total wins as GSU head coach, the second most in school history behind legendary head coach Fredrick C. Hobdy.

“As a student-athlete who played for Ben Jobe and the currently athletic director here at Grambling State University, this award is significant,” said Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Trayvean D. Scott. “It’s truly an example of Coach Jackson’s continued excellence as the head basketball coach at Grambling State as he is certainly deserving of this honor. Congratulations to Coach Jackson and the Grambling State University men’s basketball program.”

The Ben Jobe award is named in honor of one the most iconic coaches in the history of basketball at Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

He is best known as the head coach of Southern University, a position he held for 12 seasons. He was also head coach at Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Talladega, Tuskegee, and South Carolina State. His record at Southern was 209-141 and included four NCAA Tournament appearances.

He also coached the Jaguars to one NIT appearance, five SIAC championships, 11 SWAC titles and two NAIA Tournament Championships.

Perhaps his most memorable moment as a coach was leading No. 15 seed Southern to a 93-78 win over No. 2 Georgia Tech in the first round of the 1993 NCAA Tournament.

It stands as one of the great upsets in the history of the event. Coach Jobe passed away on March 10, 2017.

The recipient of the annual award is determined by a 10-member voting committee, which consists of current and former head coaches, as well as two senior staff members of collegeinsider.com.