NE Dallas News

Women’s History Month: North Lake’s Iesha Jackson is a Barrier-Busting Men’s Basketball Coach

Iesha Jackson recalled the nerves going into Day One as a new assistant coach for the North Lake men’s basketball team. At 5-foot-2, Jackson stood seven inches shorter than the shortest player on the team. And she was a woman entering what has mostly been a man’s world.

“I was a little bit worried,” she said. “I didn’t know if they were going to respect me as a coach. I didn’t know if they were going to listen to me. I didn’t know if they’d trust how I wanted to develop them.”

It didn’t take long, though, for the nerves and worry to go away.

“After the first interaction, the players were bought in,” she said, smiling. “They wanted to get coached. They wanted answers on how to develop, how to get better, how to work better. There was never an issue, which was a shock from my own expectations.”

It’s paid off for all involved as North Lake won the NJCAA Division III South Central District Championship and is headed to the NJCAA Division III National Tournament March 15-18 in Herkimer, New York.

North Lake is the defending NJCAA Division III national champions, and are riding a 21-game winning streak into the postseason.

As we celebrate Women’s History Month in March, it’s worth applauding Jackson and the impact she’s made. She’s among just a handful of women countrywide coaching men’s basketball at the college level.

“I wasn’t trying to make history by hiring her or anything like that,” North Lake head coach Josh Mills said. “I just want good people in the program. It’s hard to find good assistants no matter what level you’re at.

“Iesha was a former head coach, I liked that. I like her perspective on the game. And she helps with a lot of things outside basketball, coming up with great graphics for our social media and staying on top of our guys academically.”

Player Perspective

Most players want to become the best version of themselves in their respective sport. That means being coached up, regardless of who is doing the coaching.

North Lake has a roster full of those dedicated players, so it came as no surprise when they embraced being coached by Jackson.

“It doesn’t matter who is coaching as long as they want the same thing that we want and that is to win another championship,” sophomore forward Da’Ryan Williams said. “Coach Jackson is serious about what she’s doing and that’s the only thing that matters.”

Freshman guard Randy Woolf echoed those thoughts, saying Jackson has been a positive influence on and off the court.

“She’s been great to have around. She’s basically another head coach,” Woolf said. “It doesn’t matter that she’s a woman coach. If she was a male coach, it would make no difference. I’m just glad she’s part of our team.”

For Jackson, coaching men’s basketball has been an adjustment after spending most of her days on the women’s side. Basketball is basketball and players are players, but the nuances of the game are different. 

“Guys can play above the rim, which changes a lot of different aspects of it,” she said. “Ultimately, it’s basketball, so there’s a lot of similarities, but the game is different.” 

Original source can be found here