Jackson Returns to Duke as Special Assistant

Duke women’s basketball head coach Joanne P. McCallie has announced Blue Devil alumna Keturah Jackson has joined the staff as a special assistant. The hire will return her to Cameron Indoor Stadium for the first time since 2010, where she helped the Blue Devils sweep the ACC regular season and tournament titles, while grabbing an All-ACC Defensive Team accolade.

In charge of camps, clinics, scouting and game prep, film breakdown and on-campus recruiting, Jackson is expected to bring the same mentality to the coaching staff that led her to a successful career, while donning the Blue Devil jersey.

“It is so exciting to welcome back Keturah back to Duke,” said McCallie. “She is an amazing person and was a pivotal player on a special team that came three points away from a Final Four in Memphis. She is committed, dedicated, and can communicate directly with our student-athletes while sharing great Duke stories and experiences.”

The definition of student-athlete, Jackson received her degree in sociology in 2009 before attending the Fuqua Business School in the 2009-10 season. In the same year, Jackson secured 83 steals to rank sixth-best on Duke’s single-season charts, which sprung her to 10th on the school’s career chart with 193 steals as a Blue Devil. Jackson started in 59 of the 126 career games from 2006-10, including 33 starts in 36 contests as a senior.

Jackson comes to Duke having built her coach’s resume throughout various regional high schools. Having spent the last three years as the head coach of Lower Richland High School in Hopkins, South Carolina, Keturah had another three-year stint as a head coach of White Knoll High School (Lexington, S.C.) and stops at CA Johnson High School (Columbia, S.C.) and Chantilly High School (Chantilly, Va.) as an assistant coach.

“I am ecstatic at the opportunity to return to Duke,” exclaimed Jackson. “Playing for such a prestigious program has taught me leadership, integrity, hard work and resilience. All of these attributes have contributed my success over the past six years in teaching and coaching at the high school level. I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity to return the favor by sharing this knowledge with the current and future Duke players.”

Over the last three years at Lower Richland, Jackson led her squad to a 52-26 record, including a 10-0 mark in region play. She featured four players sign national letters of intent to play collegiate hoops during her stint. Jackson led Lower Richland to the Region 5 4A Championship each year and was Region Coach of the Year all three seasons as well.

Decorated in her high-school career, Jackson was named the 2004 South Carolina Gatorade Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year as well as earning South Carolina Miss Basketball honors. The former Duke combo guard earned two 3A South Carolina State Championships with Dreher High School in 2001 and 2003. Jackson was a multi-sport athlete as she also became a 3A State Champion in track and field in 2004.

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