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ALMA MATER
In the Mississippi Valley,
In the Crescent Bend
Stands our loved and noble Xavier,
Far her praises send.
Refrain:
Wave her colors bear them onward
Gold and white so true
Hail to thee, all hail, dear Xavier
Hail, all hail, X.U.!
Xavier, ever be our guide
And lead us on the way,
Through life's journey, onward, upward
To the eternal day. (Refrain)
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Dannton Jackson
Men's Basketball Head Coach
Xavier University of Louisiana
Office: (504) 520-5448 Fax: (504) 520-7972 E-Mail: djackson@xula.edu
Mail and Shipping: 1 Drexel Drive, Campus Box 92, New Orleans LA 70125
Best Time to Contact Jackson: Weekday mornings
printable version of this page 
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Dannton Jackson continues to construct an outstanding coaching reputation.
Through five seasons as head coach of the Xavier University of Louisiana
men's basketball program, the accomplishments of Jackson and the Gold Rush include:
• A school-record four consecutive appearances in the
Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Championship. That streak is active entering the 2008-09 season.
• Five 20-game winners.
• Two Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season co-championships.
• Two road victories against NAIA top-three teams during the past two seasons.
• A 9-1 record against Xavier's biggest rival, HBCU, GCAC and city opponent Dillard.
• Nineteen consecutive victories against Xavier's three GCAC city rivals:
Dillard, Loyola and SUNO. That streak is active.
• Four Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars, including Kelechi Okoroha
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Dannton Jackson was director of the 2008
New Orleans Hornets Summer Hoops Clinic.
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each of the past two seasons. This season Okoroha and two others could become the first Xavier
athletes to earn that honor three times.
Jackson's five-year record as head coach is 115-50.
He is the only Xavier men's basketball coach to reach the NAIA's national
tournament four times, and his winning percentage of .696 is the second
highest in the history of the program, which dates to the 1920s.
This season Jackson could tie Dale Valdery's
Gold Rush record of six consecutive 20-win seasons by a head coach.
Valdery, Jackson's predecessor, accomplished that in his first six seasons
(1990-96).
Jackson, who succeeded Valdery in June 2002, brought
to his new job a thorough understanding of Xavier and a passion for the men's basketball program.
"Xavier has a proud tradition of winning," Jackson said.
"The basketball program has always tried to develop well-rounded young men.
We get them ready for life, prepare them for the future. We have a high graduation
rate and a family atmosphere. That's how the tradition of Xavier has grown."
Jackson should know. His parents, Joseph (class of 1960)
and Maxine (1958) are Xavier graduates, and his father was a football-track standout
for the Rush. Another Xavier graduate is his uncle, Johnny Crear, who was a running
back in the 1950s and, according to Jackson, the school's career rushing leader.
And Jackson's grandfather, McNeil Berteaux, is a 1923 graduate of Xavier Normal School,
which was founded and operated, like XU, by the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament.
Jackson enrolled at Xavier in the late 1980s after one
season at Cal State Northridge, lettered two seasons in basketball with the
Gold Rush and earned his bachelor of arts degree in political science in 1992.
He added a second Xavier degree, a master of arts in education administration, in 1996.
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In addition to reaching the national tournament, the 2007-08
Gold Rush finished 24-10, reached the GCAC Tournament final for the first time since
1996, won 75-72 in overtime at NAIA No. 3 LSU-Shreveport and led the conference in
scoring defense.
Hurricane Katrina, the greatest natural disaster in U.S.
history, hit the New Orleans region on August 29, 2005, and soon afterward Xavier
cancelled intercollegiate athletics for 2005-06. Jackson's 2006-07 team was picked
sixth in the GCAC preseason coaches poll, and there were only three returning lettermen from
the 2004-05 season. But after the Gold Rush lost its first four GCAC games, Xavier
won 10 straight in conference for the first time in 20 seasons. The Gold Rush's 82-79
upset of third-ranked Georgetown (Ky.) was Xavier's first victory in the NAIA national
tourney since 1973.
The hurricane closed Xavier during the fall 2005
semester and forced thousands to evacuate the region, but Jackson said he was
fortunate to be mentored during that time by two of America's top college coaches,
John Calipari of Memphis and Rick Barnes of Texas. Jackson evacuated to Memphis
and spent considerable time at Memphis team practices —
"Coach Calipari kept the basketball thing alive. He opened up his entire program to me,"
Jackson said — and Barnes and his assistant, Russell Springmann, sent Jackson packages
of practice tapes and manuals to replace storm-damaged Xavier materials.
"Coach Calipari, Coach Barnes and Coach Springmann kept
me close to the game," Jackson said. "I'll always be appreciative of what those guys did."
Jackson was on Valdery's staff for four seasons and was
promoted to associate head coach for the 2001-02 season. Jackson also has served
Xavier as an assistant coach in women's basketball (1993-97), head coach of men's
and women's cross country (1994-96) and interim athletics director in 2004. He also
spent one season (1997-98) as a men's basketball assistant coach at Virginia State
University in Petersburg, Va.
In addition to his Xavier accomplishments, Jackson
is a summer coach for an Adidas-sponsored AAU youth team, the New Orleans Jazz,
and he designs individual training regimens for local NBA players during their offseason.
In 1996 Jackson was director of player personnel for USA Basketball's men's and women's
teams at the Olympic Games in Atlanta. He also directed the Michael Jordan Basketball
Camp in New Orleans, and he was director of the New Orleans Hornets Summer Hoops Clinic in 2008.
Two of Jackson's AAU players — New Orleanians D.J. Augustin
(Texas/Charlotte Bobcats) and Shan Foster (Vanderbilt/Dallas Mavericks) —
were NBA draft picks in 2008. Another of Jackson's AAU players, Brandon Bass, had
a breakout season with the Mavericks in 2007-08, including an 11.6 scoring average
in the playoffs and 24 made free throws in 25 attempts.
Jackson was born April 14, 1970, in Los Angeles and grew
up there. He is a graduate of Sherman Oaks CES, a high school in suburban Tarzana, Calif.
Louisiana men's college basketball coaches
who produced the most 20-game winners
at their current school:
5 Dannton Jackson, Xavier
5 Chad McDowell, LSU-Shreveport
3 Gene Rushing, Louisiana College
2 Mike McConathy, Northwestern State
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Jackson vs.
1-0 Albany State
3-0 Arkansas Baptist
0-1 Arkansas-Monticello
9-1 Belhaven
0-1 California Baptist
1-0 Central Baptist
1-0 Claflin
4-0 Clark Atlanta
0-1 Concordia (Calif.)
9-1 Dillard
1-0 Evergreen
0-2 Faulkner
1-0 Georgetown (Ky.)
3-0 Huston-Tillotson
2-8 LSU-Shreveport
11-0 Loyola
0-1 Martin Methodist
5-8 Mobile
1-1 Morehouse
0-1 Nicholls State
0-1 Northwestern Okla.
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1-0 Nyack
0-1 Oklahoma Baptist
4-0 Paul Quinn
1-0 Philander Smith
0-1 Robert Morris (Chicago)
0-1 San Diego Christian
1-0 Savannah Art & Design
7-4 SUNO
1-0 Spalding
8-4 Spring Hill
4-1 Stillman
1-0 Texas A&M Internat'l
0-1 Texas A&M-Kingsville
5-0 Texas College
1-0 Texas Wesleyan
6-4 Tougaloo
0-1 Tuskegee
3-0 Webber International
2-0 Wesley (Miss.)
2-0 West Alabama
8-2 Wiley
8-3 William Carey
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Dannton Jackson's deceased father,
Joseph Jackson,
was a football and track standout
for the Gold Rush and graduated
from Xavier in 1960. Dannton's
mother, Maxine Jackson, earned
her Xavier degree in 1958.
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Dannton Jackson's record as head coach of Xavier men's basketball |
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—All Games— |
—GCAC Games— |
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| Season |
W |
L |
Pct. |
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W |
L |
Pct. |
Rank |
GCAC Tournament |
NAIA Tournament |
Final NAIA Poll |
| 2002-03 |
22 |
12 |
.647 |
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9 |
7 |
.563 |
tie-3rd |
1-1, Semifinals |
— |
RV (tie-37th) |
| 2003-04 |
23 |
8 |
.742 |
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13 |
5 |
.722 |
tie-1st |
0-1, Quarterfinals |
1st Round |
22nd |
| 2004-05 |
24 |
10 |
.706 |
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13 |
5 |
.722 |
3rd |
1-1, Semifinals |
1st Round |
RV (26th) |
| 2005-06 |
no team due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina |
| 2006-07 |
22 |
10 |
.688 |
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13 |
5 |
.722 |
tie-1st |
1-1, Semifinals |
Sweet 16 |
RV (tie-27th) |
| 2007-08 |
24 |
10 |
.706 |
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12 |
6 |
.667 |
3rd |
2-1, 2nd Place |
1st Round |
RV (28th) |
| 5 Years |
115 |
50 |
.697 |
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60 |
28 |
.682 |
2 titles |
5-5 |
4 trips, 1-4 record |
final top 25: 1 time |
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