The Prairie View
A&M University and Prairie View Community is mourning the passing of
Legendary Coach Barbara Jacket on January 6, 2022/
The PVAMU family lost another pillar of the community with her passing. Jacket was one of the greatest Coach at the university and the love and respect she garnered from the students and colleagues and others around the globe is immeasurable.
The Funeral arrangement for Coach Jacket is as follows:
Visitation on January 14, 2022 at 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. (CT)
Singleton & Sons Funeral Home627 New Orleans
Hempstead, Texas 77445
Funeral Service on Saturday, January 15, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. (CT)
Prairie View A&M University
Prairie View, TX 77446
Jacket joined Prairie View A&M University in 1964 as a swimming instructor and after two years started the women’s track team in 1966, primarily with students from her physical education classes and girls she saw running across campus who were trying not to be late for class.
Jacket was born on December 26, 1934 and grew up on the West Side of Port Arthur, Texas, with a single mother and two siblings. “When I was a kid, I didn’t know we were poor because we always had something to eat,” she said. “It was in Port Arthur that I received my most important mentoring and where I began setting the stage for my career.” After graduation from Port Arthur Lincoln High in 1954 and with the urging and help from her most important mentor, Miss A. P. Guidry, Jacket attended Tuskegee. At Tuskegee, Jacket earned the nickname “Miss Basketball” for her prowess on the court and graduated in 1958. Following graduation, Jacket began her teaching career at Eufala, Alabama, and after a year she moved back home to Port Arthur to teach at her alma mater, Lincoln High School.
During her 25 years of coaching the women’s track and field team from 1966 to 1991, Jacket and her teams amassed numerous awards and recognition to include national coach of the year five times in the NAIA and picked up 23 SWAC Coach of the Year awards. In 1990 she was named athletic director at Prairie View, the only female to hold that position in the SWAC, and she served five years at the helm of the Panther programs. Jacket retired as head coach of women's track and field at Prairie View A&M in 1991 to devote more time to the Olympics. As coach of the 1992 U.S. Women's Olympic Track Team during the Olympics which ran from July 25 to August 9 in Barcelona, Spain, Ms. Jacket had the enviable task of coaching such greats as long jumper Jackie Joyner-Kersee and sprinters Gwen Torrance, Gail Devers, and Evelyn Ashford. The women's team won four gold medals, three silver medals and three bronze medals which was more than any team since 1956 at the time. They also set a record in the 400-meter relay. Jacket retired from the university in 2010.
Among her cherished assignments, Jacket was selected to coach the US Olympic Women's Team in 1992 in Barcelona, Spain, following in the footsteps of another mentor and coach, Dr. Nell Jackson, who was the coach in 1956. She also served as coach for USA Track and Field events during her career.
She was inducted into the Prairie View A&M Sports Hall of Fame in 1992 and the SWAC
Hall of Fame in 1993, Jacket is also a member of the International Women's
Sports Hall of Fame. She was inducted into the United States Track & Field
and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Coaches Hall of Fame in 2001.
Her hometown of Port Arthur named a downtown park in her honor and the Chamber
of Commerce named her as a Distinguished Citizen. Jacket was also recognized in the Texas Story Project - I am Texas.
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