Coach Dionnah Jackson looks to bring a winning attitude in Kansas City

First-year Head Coach Dionnah Jackson-Durrett understands the expectation of her coming off of an electrifying 2021–2022 season that saw the Roos finish with 23 wins, and she is not backing down from the challenge.

   “The 23 wins don’t scare me. If that’s what you all want to hold me to, that’s fine. They (players) got my back,” Jackson-Durrett said during a press conference. 

  This past week, Kansas City Athletics hosted a media day for women’s basketball, where coaches and players sat down with media members to discuss the upcoming season. 

  While the team might look forward to repeating last year’s success, Durrett-Jackson emphasized not looking too far ahead. She’s vocalized to her team the importance of taking the season one moment, one day, and one game at a time. 

  One of the veteran pieces who’ll be ensuring that this season is junior guard Sanaa ‘St. Andre, who expressed how, after coming off the bench for two seasons, she’s ready to take on a leadership role. 

  “I’m excited. I have to embrace it and have fun with it. So far, it’s been good,” St. Andre said. 

  Another key leader will be guard/forward E’Lease Stafford, a junior transfer from Utah State who has vocalized how she is ready to prove people wrong about this team’s preseason projections to finish sixth in the Summit League. 

  “For me, I took it very personally because I didn’t see my name on any of the pre-season stuff (rankings), so I’m going to show them I should be on the first team, player of the year, or something like that. As a team, finishing sixth and not top three, we’re going to show them that we’re going to be like top two. ” 

  Jackson-Durrett views those preseason rankings as an opportunity for her squad to go out and show how hard they’ve worked and what the players and staff have invested during the off-season. Jackson-Durrett understands how nobody knows them yet, but said, “This team, this staff, we’re so competitive and this just adds fuel to our fire.” 

  The Roos start their season this upcoming week on Nov. 7, where they will start their four-game home stand against Westminster at 11 a.m. 

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