On Episode 6 of Season 5, we chatted with Jackson Academy Lady Raiders head basketball coach, Jan Sojourner.
Coach Jan Sojourner will be entering her 39th year of coaching at Jackson Academy this year and 44th overall. She began her career at Canton Academy in 1976 serving as the head basketball and track coach for five years. From there she went to Brandon High School for three years before subsequently serving as a Graduate Assistant at Auburn University for one year.
In 1985 Coach Sojourner began her stint at Jackson Academy. During her time at Jackson Academy, her teams have won 6 MAIS Overall State Championships, 10 MAIS State Championships, and 11 MAIS District Championships. Coach Sojourner was inducted into the first class of the MAIS Sports Hall of Fame in 2002, and in 2021, she coached her 1,000th career victory at The Raider Dome becoming just the third girls coach in Mississippi history to achieve this amazing milestone. Her current coaching record stands at 1,019-396 (917-360 at JA)
Anyone who has ever played for her, or been associated with her program in any way, is well aware that her most indelible mark relates not just to wins and losses, but to the manner in which she has positively impacted and influenced so many lives. The impact she has had with the thousands of players she has coached and even coached against along with the students that never even played the game but walked the halls of JA – is incalculable.
In this exclusive one-on-one, we talk about where her competitive fire comes from, where her love for the game of basketball was born, how she knew at a young age she would be a coach one day, and in classic Coach Sojourner form-she deflects any praise and credit to her coaches and players over the years. Which is one reason she is so endearing to so many whose lives she’s touched.
See our sit down in its entirety with Jan Sojourner right here. And do us a favor and hit that SUBSCRIBE button while you’re here. 😊 Thank you for watching!