Mississippi State forward, SEC leading scorer Rickea Jackson enters transfer portal
Jan. 24—Mississippi State women's basketball forward Rickea Jackson has entered the transfer portal, the SEC's leading scorer announced on social media Monday.
Jackson, a junior out of Detroit, is averaging 20.3 points per game along with 6.8 rebounds.
She committed to Mississippi State in 2018 while Vic Schaefer was head coach. Jackson averaged 15.1 points per game her freshman season (2019-20) under Schaefer.
Schaefer left the program for Texas after the conclusion of that season was cancelled due to COVID-19.
Jackson did not enter the portal following Schaefer's departure and stayed at Mississippi State after Nikki McCray-Penson was hired in 2020. She did the same last fall when McCray-Penson stepped down due to health concerns and Doug Novak took over as interim head coach.
Jackson joins guards Jasmine Shavers and KN'isha Godfrey as players who have transferred following McCray-Penson's departure.
Jackson's decision to transfer comes in the midst of clear tension among players, highlighted by a locker room confrontation with players which saw Anastasia Hayes join the team late in the second half of a loss at Ole Miss on Jan. 16. Novak has been vocal about the tension and how the team has tried to address it, though he hasn't mentioned specific players or coaches being involved.
Jackson finishes her run at Mississippi State averaging 16.2 points per game in her career.
Mississippi State is 11-7 this season and 2-4 in conference play. The Bulldogs are coming off a 74-54 loss Sunday at Arkansas in which Jackson scored a season-low eight points.
STEFAN KRAJISNIK is the Mississippi State athletics reporter for the Daily Journal. Contact him at stefan.krajisnik@djournal.com.
