Dionnah Jackson-Durrett Joins Arkansas Women's Basketball Coaching Staff
FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas women’s basketball head coach Kelsi Musick has hired experienced coach Dionnah Jackson-Durrett as an assistant coach and the team’s defensive coordinator.
Musick and Jackson-Durrett coached against each other in the Summit League from 2022-2025, with Musick at Oral Roberts and Jackson-Durrett at Kansas City. Jackson-Durrett spent four seasons as the head coach for the Roos and made deep runs in the Summit League Tournament.
“I’m thankful to Coach Kelsi Musick for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to join her staff at the University of Arkansas,” Jackson-Durrett said. “I’ve always admired the way she leads, builds genuine relationships, and competes with passion and authenticity. The opportunity to work with someone whose vision and values align so closely with mine made this an easy decision. I’m excited to get to work, help build something special, and pour into the young women in this program every single day.”
Prior to Jackson-Durrett’s first head coaching gig, she served as the associate head coach at Texas under Vic Schaefer. In two seasons in Austin, she helped lead the Longhorns to 50 wins, a 2022 Big 12 Tournament Title and back-to-back NCAA Elite Eight appearances. The Longhorns’ 2021 Elite Eight appearance was their first since 2016, and the 2022 appearance marked the first back-to-back Elite Eight showings since 1989-90. The Big 12 Tournament win was the program’s first since 2003.
The St. Louis, Missouri native was key in developing Rori Harmon, who was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year, as well as earning spots on the All-Big 12 Second Team, All-Defensive Team and All-Freshman Team in 2022. She averaged 11.4 points per game and broke the program’s freshman assist mark, notching AP All-America Honorable Mention, Big 12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player, ESPN W Player of the Week, NCBWA National Freshman of the Week and four-time Big 12 Freshman of the Week honors, and was a candidate for National Freshman of the Year. Harmon went on to become Texas’ all-time assists leader with 977 assists and became the first player in NCAA Division I women’s basketball history to achieve her statistics in four categories: 1,616 points, 977 assists, 659 rebounds and 388 steals.
Jackson-Durrett also helped develop Joanne Allen-Taylor into a two-time All-Big 12 honoree and led Aliyah Matharu to her first All-Conference nomination after transferring from Mississippi State. In 2020-21, in addition to Allen-Taylor’s All-Big 12 selection, guards Kyra Lambert and Celeste Taylor were named to All-Big 12 teams.
Prior to her time with Schaefer in Austin, Jackson-Durrett spent five years on his staff at Mississippi State, including one year as the program’s associate head coach. During her time with the Bulldogs, she worked directly with point guards. Under her direction, the team recorded the top-three single-season assist marks in program history, including the school record of 602 in 2017-18.
Additionally, the team earned back-to-back NCAA National Runner-up finishes in 2016-17 and 2017-18, an Elite Eight appearance in 2018-19 and a Sweet Sixteen showing in 2015-16.
While she was in Starkville, the Bulldogs ranked inside the top-25 nationally and led the SEC in assists three times, assists per game once and assist-to-turnover ratio twice. Jackson-Durrett coached and mentored two of the top point guards in Mississippi State history in Jazzmun Holmes and Morgan Willman, both of whom received All-America Honorable Mention honors from the Associated Press.
Jackson-Durrett was also a key mentor to Victoria Vivians, one of the most decorated players in Mississippi State history. Vivians was a four-time All-SEC player, including three selections for the All-SEC First Team. She was a two-time Naismith Player of the Year Semifinalist, two-time All-Final Four player and was named an AP First Team All-American in 2017-18.
In addition to Holmes, Willman and Vivians, Jackson-Durrett helped in the development of Myah Taylor and Anriel Howard. Taylor ranked eighth in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio during her sophomore season under Jackson-Durrett, averaging a team-high 4.6 assists per game. Howard transferred to Mississippi State for her senior season in 2018-19, earning First Team All-SEC and SEC All-Tournament Team honors.
Jackson-Durrett also flexed her recruiting prowess during her time with the Bulldogs, helping notch the program’s best-ever recruiting class, and ESPN’s sixth-best in the nation, in 2019.
From 2013-15, Jackson-Durrett was an assistant coach at George Mason, working with the Patriots’ offense and guards. The Patriots posted a five-win improvement from her first-to-second year, and guard Taylor Brown left as the school’s third-leading scorer all-time, averaging 20.1 points per game in her two seasons under Jackson-Durrett’s tutelage.
Jackson-Durrett got her coaching start at Southeast Missouri State from 2010-13, helping Kara Wright to OVC All-Newcomer Team honors and guiding Bianca Beck to an overseas professional contract.
She spent five years playing professional basketball, beginning as a first-round selection by the Detroit Shock in the 2005 WNBA Draft. In 2007, she was picked up by the Chicago Sky. In addition to her time in the WNBA, she played for Israel’s Maccabi Tel Kabir, also spending time in Switzerland and Greece.
During her collegiate career at Oklahoma, Jackson-Durrett played 131 games, averaging 11.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.1 steals per game. She garnered Honorable Mention All-American honors and was named a finalist for the Wade and Naismith National Player of the Year awards.
She wrapped up her career as one of the most decorated players in program history and finished in the top-10 in 17 of OU’s 22 career records lists. She left the school ranked second in assists (606), third in steals (265), fourth in rebounds (829), fifth in blocks (64) and ninth in scoring (1,491).
Jackson-Durrett was a three-time All-Big 12 player, earning first-team honors in her senior year after landing second-team selections during her sophomore and junior seasons. As a junior, she was named the Big 12 Tournament MVP, averaging 17.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists while leading the Sooners to a Big 12 tournament title.
In addition to winning a pair of Big 12 titles, the three-year starter and three-year captain led Oklahoma to the NCAA Tournament all four years, including the program’s first Final Four and national runner-up finish as a freshman.
During her four years at Parkway High School in St. Louis, Jackson-Durrett was a two-time all-state selection, leading the school to a 102-12 record.
Jackson-Durrett earned her bachelor’s degree in mass communication from Oklahoma in 2005 and a master’s in higher education administration from Southeast Missouri State in 2013. She is married to Jon Durrett and has one daughter, Laila Renee.
The Jackson-Durrett File
Alma Mater: Oklahoma (2005)
Hometown: St. Louis, Mo.
Husband: Jon Durrett
Children: Laila Renee
Experience: 13 seasons (Four as Head Coach)
COLLEGE HEAD COACHING RECORD
Kansas City: 40-87, 17-48 Summit League
COACHING HISTORY
2026-present: Assistant Coach/Defensive Coordinator, Arkansas
2022-2026: Head Coach, Kansas City
2020-22: Associate Head Coach, Texas
2019-20: Associate Head Coach, Mississippi State
2015-19: Assistant Coach, Mississippi State
2013-15: Assistant Coach, George Mason
2010-13: Assistant Coach, Southeast Missouri State
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
First-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)
All-Big 12 First Team (2005)
Wade & Naismith National POY Finalist (2005)
Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Finalist (2005)
Big 12 Tournament MVP (2004)
All-Big 12 Second Team (2003, 2004)
Big 12 All-Tournament Team (2002)
Biographical information via the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
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