SFCC Welcomes New Head Men’s Basketball Coach Jeremy Jackson to Sedalia

SFCC announced a new men’s head basketball coach on Friday, April 25 and on May 2, SFCC coaches, staff, and the general public got a chance to meet Coach Jeremy Jackson in person.

Jackson was selected from a pool of more than 90 applicants and becomes the seventh head coach in the program’s history.

“Outstanding, awesome,” replied SFCC Athletic Director Darren Pannier when asked about his first impressions of Coach Jackson.

“State Fair Community College, the Athletic Department and the community are blessed to have him as part of our staff,” Pannier stated.

“It was a big pull. It was difficult, and I do believe the committee has selected an awesome, outstanding gentleman to lead our program in the right direction,” Pannier said of the nine-member selection committee.

“(NJCAA) Region 16 is difficult,’ Pannier said. “You got Moberly, Three Rivers, Mineral Area and West Plains. You throw State Fair in there and you’ve got five elite teams.”

Coach Jackson told KSIS that he is a coach who develops great  bonds with his players. “I want to have them invite me to their weddings later on in life,” he said. “I don’t want them to feel like they’re just a number, then they’re just out the door and we don’t talk anymore. So I really want to build lifelong relationships with these players and their families.”

Coach Jackson, who spent close to 15 years coaching basketball at NEO in Miami, Oklahoma, helped more than 40 players earn Division I scholarships and more than 60 continue their academic and athletic careers at four-year colleges.

He emphasizes participation in community events and realizing they are not only representing themselves when they are out in public, but also their family back home as well as the SFCC Roadrunner program.

As for defense, Coach Jackson wants to keep the basketball out of the paint, lots of pressure on the opponents, and a lot of transition run & jump, and a Syracuse style of zoning. “We’ll get after it, defensively. Pressure the ball and have a lot of help on the back side. I think that’s huge,” Coach Jackson said.

“I think the game is won in the paint, offensively. I grew up watching ‘90s basketball. I think that could still hold true today, and it has in my career so far, getting paint touches, and we actually track those. They get kickouts or they get dunk downs. If they get by them, they get a finish,” Coach Jackson stated.

So what drew Coach Jackson to State Fair?

“The history … The facility’s beautiful, the town’s wonderful. You know, after talking to Coach Pannier, he’s also one of the reasons I was drawn here. He seems like an amazing man to work for, a great guy in the community, and that’s what I want to embrace. I want to learn, I want to keep growing, as a coach and as a human. So I think this is a great place for me to do that,” Coach Jackson told KSIS.

As for recruiting, Coach Jackson said he has a developed a worldwide network.
“We’ve had international players who have come in and be greatly successful, also east coast, west coast. Last year at NEO, we had a kid from California who and a kid from New York. And few in between,” Jackson recalled.

Coach Jackson admitted that a team is like a family, with good days and bad days. “But at the end of the day, we want to make sure that we are all going in the same direction.”

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When asked about goals for the Roadrunners this coming season, Coach Jackson had this to say:

“I want us to compete and be in every game. I feel like if we’re in every game, we’re going to be able to execute down the stretch and win those games,” Coach Jackson stated. “ I want to be great this year, I want to make an immediate impact, and I want to have our guys represent the Roadrunner family to the best of their abilities.”

SFCC's record in 2024-2025 was 18-13.