Published on September 14, 2021 at slamonline.com
There’s an undeniable truth behind the words spoken by Jackson State’s women’s basketball head coach, Tomekia Reed. The Jackson, Mississippi native, who originally joined the program back in ‘06 as a recruiting coordinator, has taken the HBCU program back to prominence after winning back-to-back SWAC regular season championships since being hired as the head coach in 2018.
Yet back in mid-August, the Jackson State women’s head coach tweeted out her frustrations with how Black female coaches are constantly overlooked. Amidst all the shade, the Tigers finished their season with a 18-6 record and a trip to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2008, where they faced Baylor in the first round.
“You know, that was something I’ve been feeling for a very long time,” Reed says over a Zoom call in August. “I think our ability to have won as many championships as we’ve won here at Jackson State—in three years we’ve won three championships—so I think I had ears for the platform at this point. And so I said, ‘you know what, I’m gonna go for it.’”
Reed knows what it takes to lead a program to success, both as a player and a coach. After leading Southern Miss to a WNIT appearance, she transferred to Hinds Community College for the 2000-01 season and led the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) in rebounds per game, while also posting second in the conference in scoring and earning All-State first team honors. (READ THE FULL STORY HERE.)