Jackson State Community College names Small as women’s basketball coach

Jackson State Community College named Garner Small as its next women’s basketball head coach, and Director of Athletics Dr. Kevin K. Lynum made the announcement for the Jackson, Tennessee, program. The hire gives the Lady Green Jays a new lead voice as summer recruiting, roster building and player development move into the most important stretch before the season.

The move is already reflected on Jackson State Community College Athletics, where Garner Small is listed as the Head Women’s Basketball Coach. The staff page also shows the assistant women’s basketball coach position as vacant, a sign that Small is taking over a program still in transition rather than stepping into a finished roster and staff structure. Dr. Kevin Lynum is listed on JSCC’s athletics directory as Director of Athletics, and the college’s employee directory identifies him in the same role.

For a junior-college program, the timing matters. NJCAA teams can change quickly from year to year, so a new head coach has to do more than organize practice. Small’s job now runs through recruiting reach, retention of current players, academic oversight, eligibility management and the offseason work of building a competitive roster before fall practice begins. At Jackson State, that makes year one less about a single headline and more about how quickly the program settles into a clear identity.

JSCC’s athletics news page also includes a 2025-26 women’s basketball section, a reminder that the coaching change arrives as the next cycle is already taking shape. In that setting, the early markers for Small will be concrete: whether the roster is assembled on time, whether the staff situation stabilizes, whether returning players develop through workouts, and whether the Lady Green Jays show a cleaner path into NJCAA play.

Jackson State’s choice hands Small the responsibility of setting the standard for the next chapter. With the assistant post still open and the new season already on the horizon, the first test is whether the program can turn the hire into a workable roster and a steadier climb forward.