Jackson State was scheduled to open its 2026-27 basketball season Monday night against No. 19 Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas. The calendar listed a 6 p.m. tipoff at United Supermarket Arena, with the game set to air on CBS Sports Network.
The matchup was to be the first for Trey Johnson as the Tigers’ head coach. Jackson State named Johnson to the position April 15. The former Tiger previously served as an assistant at Alabama State and associate head coach at Jackson State.
Jackson State, which went 12-21 last season, returns two preseason All-Conference selections: guard Daeshun Ruffin and Dorian McMillian. Ruffin was named the conference’s preseason player of the year after finishing last season as the nation’s fifth-leading scorer. He has 1,312 career points, having reached 1,000 last season.
Ruffin missed the second half of Jackson State’s final regular-season game and both contests in the SWAC tournament. McMillian averaged 11.9 points per game alongside him in the backcourt. McMillian was the SWAC freshman of the year in 2024-25.
Johnson is Jackson State’s single-season program leader in points per game, total points, free throws made and free throws attempted, according to the school. He scored more than 1,000 points in two seasons and was inducted into the Jackson State Sports Hall of Fame in 2020. He won the Bailey Howell Trophy in 2007 after being named a finalist in 2006.
The teams have met twice, with their most recent meeting in 2022. Jackson State’s schedule listed 14 consecutive road games to start the season, including trips to Baylor and Texas, Oklahoma State, Tulsa and Oklahoma, and Mississippi State, Southern Miss and Ole Miss.
