Custom Search Orangeburg, SC - Claflin University has named Ricky B. Jackson its head men’s basketball coach. Jackson joins the Panther staff after serving five years as the top assistant to the men’s basketball coach at Shaw University in Raleigh, N. C.
Jackson
“We believe Coach Jackson is the right fit for Claflin University,” Athletics Director Jerome Fitch said. “He brings outstanding credentials as a head coach and a mentor for student-athletes. He is a passionate student of the game and I have every confidence that our program will continue a tradition of excellence under his leadership.”
Jackson succeeds Scott Monarch who was hired in May but never coached a game before leaving earlier this month to become an assistant coach at Division I North Texas State.
Before joining the staff at Shaw in 2008, Jackson spent the previous 12 years at Gloucester County College of Sewell, N. J., the last eight as head coach. During his tenure as head coach, Gloucester won seven consecutive Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) Northern Division titles.
His teams were Region XIX champions three times and Jackson captured Coach of the Year honors three times each by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) District 6 and Region XIX. He ended his head coaching career at Gloucester with a 183-35 record, a remarkable .839 winning percentage.
In recent years, Shaw has shifted its national prominence upward. The Bears won the CIAA title in 2011 and have been a mainstay in national and regional polls, ranking as high as No. 7 in the NCAA Division II final poll in 2011-2012.
Jackson graduated from Virginia Union University of Richmond, Va., in 1991 and earned a master’s in human services from Springfield College of Springfield, Mass., in 2001.