Gannon Jackson

Jamestown Community College has announced that Gannon Jackson is the new head coach of Jayhawk softball.

“We couldn’t be more excited to appoint Gannon as the new leader of our softball team,” said athletic director George Sisson. “Jackson joins JCC with a wealth of knowledge in the world of baseball, and we look forward to seeing him translate that to the softball diamond.”

Jackson has been around the sport of baseball his entire life, playing for both Jamestown High School and as a former Jayhawk; he’s coached for nearly a decade, most recently as an assistant for the Jamestown Tarp Skunks and the last four years as the lead assistant under Jerico Weitzel on the Jamestown CC baseball team.

“I’m excited to get to lead a program and see what we can do on the softball field,” said Jackson. “I do a lot for baseball, from fundraising and recruiting to coaching first base and all the day-to-day operations, but I would love the opportunity to see a successful softball team here at JCC. I love being here every day and helping baseball, but I want to do what is best for JCC athletics, and we need a successful softball team.”

As an assistant for the baseball team, Jackson has seen the Jayhawks earn double-digit wins each season but, more importantly, place several student-athletes on the academic All-American lists. The importance of academics is something Weitzel stresses, and Jackson plans to steal as much from Weitzel as he can.

“I owe so much to Jerico when it comes to the opportunity to take on my own program,” said Jackson. “He truly loves his players, and I want to take that approach as well. What might be most important is how much he stresses work ethic, both on the field and in the classroom. We will build a strong program on the softball diamond, but it will be just as important to me that we copy the classroom success from baseball as well.”

Sisson said “it was an easy decision” to hire Jackson.

“You could tell from the minute we spoke during our interview he had the passion and dedication needed to rekindle our softball program,” Sisson added.

Jamestown CC hasn’t fielded a softball team since 2024, giving Jackson a clean canvas to work from when building his team with his vision.

“My goal is to secure a roster with a good group of kids,” said Jackson. “In the first year, we want to fine-tune skills while improving from fall to spring. The goal is to really go and compete in the first year; you obviously want to win the first year, too, but we want to bring in a good group from the start and build from there.

“I want kids who want to come and compete and build something. We have great academic programs, and we want kids who will excel there but also on the field. I want to build the Jayhawk softball team as something the community is proud of, both in the classroom and on the diamond.”

If Jackson isn’t on the diamond, he enjoys spending time with his daughter, Madilynn, and Jayhawks’ head volleyball coach Cherish Pope. If the trio isn’t in the gym, you can find them on an area golf course.

Jackson plans to hit the ground running when it comes to assembling his staff and roster for next season and beyond. He has a meeting planned with prospective student-athletes at 7 p.m. Thursday inside the gym of the Physical Education Complex.