Savannah State University has selected Samuel D. Jackson to lead the men's basketballprogram for the 1999-2000 season.
"The search took longer than expected", says SSU athletics director Dr. Jerome H. Fitch.However, we wanted to find a person whom we felt would compliment our ambition to elevateour program to Division I status. Jackson best suites the role, He has a wealth ofcoaching experience and he brings with him the division I experience that we need,"
Jackson, a native of Headland, Alabama comes to SSU from Georgia Southern University wherehe served as assistant basketball coach and recruiting coordinator for four years. Hisduties also included scheduling, coordinating pre-season and spring conditioning programs,and monitoring basketball athletes' academic progress. Before joining the GSU staff in1995, he served a year as Tennessee State University assistant coach in Nashville,Tennessee. Prior to joining the TSU staff, Jackson worked as assistant basketball coach,restricted earnings coordinator, and administrative assistant with the Auburn Universitybasketball program in Auburn, Alabama from 1993 to 1994.
Jackson attended the University of Montevallo in Montevallo, Alabama where he was a four-year letterman, a two-year all conference selection and basketball team captain. Hereceived a bachelor of science degree in Communications at Montevallo in 1986. After asterling collegiate career at Montevallo, Jackson journeyed to Rockford, Illinois andplayed professional basketball for the Continental Basketball Association RockfordLightning. He left the Lightning in 1987 and joined the Birmingham (Alabama) Magic, asemi-pro team, and played for a year while working in a production control position atMoore and Handley Inc, in Pelham, Alabama.
In 1988, Jackson embarked on his basketball coaching career at Butler High School inHuntsville. His duties at Butler were head assistant varsity coach and head junior varsitycoach. During the off-season, he also was head Junior Olympic (A.A.U.) coach and headSports Festival coach.
Among Jackson's many athletics related activities are directing the Sammy JacksonBasketball Camp which ran from 1993 through 1999, in Headland, Alabama, Thedirector/coordinator of the Frank Allen Summer Camp and clinic coordinator for the FrankieAllen Nike Clinic (1994-95) in Nashville, Tennessee.
