James "JJ" Jackson begins his fourth season at Alabama State University and sixth season overall in college coaching after a successful run as a high school coach in Montgomery. He currently serves as the Director of Recruiting, Player Relations & Community Engagement.
Jackson arrived at ASU along with Head Coach Tony Madlock and has been a part of a four-year cycle which has seen the Hornets show marked improvement each season. After ASU finished his first season (2022-23) with an 8-23 record and 6-12 in the SWAC, the Hornets improved to 13-19 and 8-10 for the 2023-24 season. Last season the Hornets finished 20-16 overall and 12-16 in the SWAC, winning 20 games for only the fifth time in program history as an NCAA Division I program.
Following the regular season, Jackson helped lead ASU to the SWAC Tournament Championship and along with it, the automatic berth in the 2025 NCAA Championship, where the Hornets won the program’s first NCAA Tournament win with a 70-68 victory over Saint Francis in the opening week of action.
He began his college career at Faulkner University (NAIA) where they made it to the Sweet 16 National NAIA Tourney in KC Missouri in his two seasons.
Jackson has over 30 years of coaching experience, starting at the high School level where he was the Head Coach at G.W. Carver High School, winning three AHSAA state championships (2012,2015 & 2018), and built Carver into a state powerhouse during his tenure with the Wolverines. He posted a career record of 531-129.
Jackson has coached players such as Craig Sword, NBA ( Atlanta Hawks G-League, Washington Wizards and Indiana Pacers), Mack Wilson, NFL (Cleveland Browns and New England Patriots), Marlon Davidson (Atlanta Falcons & San Francisco 49ers, along with many other overseas players).
He started his college career at West Texas State (MVC) in 1982-83. In 1984-87, Jackson played for the University of Alabama, where they were the SEC Regular Season and SEC Tournament Champions (1987), with two NCAA Sweet 16 appearances (1986-87).
Jackson graduated from the University of Alabama with BS in Communication. He is married to Jessica W. Jackson and they have one son, James Jackson lll.
