Irieyonia “Mook” Jackson was just a freshman in 2020-21, but that did not stop her from winning the Coahoma Early College High School girls basketball team MVP award.
“I was proud of myself because I never thought that it would be that easy because it was my first year in high school and I felt proud because I had MVP,” Jackson said.
The Lady Tigers were in a rebuilding mode and did not make the playoffs. Their schedule was also limited due to the COVID pandemic, but Jackson, a shooting guard and wing, maintained her focus.
“My mom kept me focused and my coach kept pushing me to keep going and stay focused and do my best at all times,” Jackson said.
Yolanda Daniel is Jackson’s mom and Luster C. Tyler II was her coach last season.
“I would like to thank my coach and my principal and my mom and my grandparents for pushing me to do better the whole school year and trying to get me to maintain in basketball,” Jackson said.
Jackson scored as many as 20 points in a game and averaged around 15 or 16 points per game.
“My best game was against Winona because they pushed us very hard,” Jackson said. “They pushed through the end of the game. I felt like we could have won the game.”
Jackson said the game was at home.
CECHS’s future is up in the air. There may or may not be a school next season.
“If they close down, I plan on maybe playing for Coahoma County or Clarksdale High,” Jackson said.
Regardless, Jackson said she will be playing basketball as a sophomore. She said she would like to play for CECHS.
“I plan on making the Coahoma Early College team better,” Jackson said. “I plan on growing with them. I plan on trying to make the playoffs.”
As well as Jackson played last season, she knows there is always room for improvement.
“I need to improve my dribbling skills, my defensive skills and I plan on scoring more points a game and I plan on being more focused,” Jackson said. “I think I did well in playing team ball.”
Jackson has her sights set on playing college basketball.
“I want to play at either Ole Miss or Mississippi State,” Jackson said.
Jackson is around 5 feet 3 inches or 5 feet 4 inches. She is still growing and hopes to be 5 feet 6 inches.
“I should be able to play in the post if I get that high,” Jackson said. “I’d like to play all around.”
Jackson said she would like to be able to play every position.
“I plan on being a better point guard,” she said. “I don’t like playing point guard.”
