UMKC

Kansas City Roos find new women’s basketball coach on Texas Longhorns’ staff

The Kansas City Roos have a new head women’s basketball coach: Dionnah Jackson-Durrett, who brings experience from several programs after a playing career in the Big 12.
The Kansas City Roos have a new head women’s basketball coach: Dionnah Jackson-Durrett, who brings experience from several programs after a playing career in the Big 12. Photo: The Oklahoman

The Kansas City Roos, who lost their women’s basketball coach to a Big 12 program, found the replacement in the same conference.

Dionnah Jackson-Durrett, who served as associate head coach at Texas, is UMKC’s new coach. She succeeds Jacie Hoyt, who last week was introduced as Oklahoma State’s new coach.

The Longhorns reached the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight in both of Jackson-Durrett’s seasons on the staff. She came to Austin in 2020 with head coach Vic Schaefer from Mississippi State, where she had been a member of Schaefer’s staff for the previous five seasons.

Kansas City will be Jackson-Durrett’s first head coaching job. She’s also served on staffs at George Mason and Southeast Missouri State.

Jackson-Durrett, a St. Louis native, was a guard on Oklahoma’s 2002 team that reached the NCAA championship game. She made All-Big 12 as a senior.

She was a WNBA first-round draft selection in 2005 and played professionally in Switzerland and Israel.

This story was originally published March 30, 2022 at 10:32 AM.

Blair Kerkhoff
The Kansas City Star
Blair Kerkhoff has covered sports for The Kansas City Star since 1989. He was elected to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2023.
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