Jackson State Names Kendrick Perkins Men's Basketball General Manager

Jackson State named ESPN analyst and 2008 NBA champion Kendrick Perkins men's basketball general manager, AD Ashley Robinson confirmed to HBCU Legends On SI.

Jackson State names Kendrick Perkins general manager of men's basketball. | HBCU LEGENDS

JACKSON, Miss. – Jackson State University named Kendrick Perkins general manager of men’s basketball operations, according to Shams Charania of ESPN. Ashley Robinson, vice president and director of athletics for Jackson State, confirmed Perkins’ new post with HBCU Legends On SI.

Naming the ESPN analyst and 2008 NBA champion as general manager reflects Robinson’s desire for the program to keep pace with a national shift reshaping how college rosters are being built. Perkins, a 14-year NBA veteran who won a title with the Boston Celtics, agreed to the role after working closely with first-year head coach Trey Johnson.

“It’s a volunteer role, but he’s going to come in to fundraise,” Robinson said. Perkins will also take a leading part in Jackson State’s name, image, and likeness efforts. Robinson expects his presence to transform the program while increasing its exposure and resources. “That’s going to be huge for us,” Robinson said.

Jackson State names Kendrick Perkins general manager of men's basketball. | HBCU LEGENDS

The hire came together through familiar channels. Perkins and Johnson share the same agent and had discussed the move for some time before deciding to make it public. Johnson, who played briefly in the NBA, including a stint with the Los Angeles Lakers alongside Kobe Bryant, began working with Perkins the same day the news broke.

Robinson said Perkins will also help launch a journalism program at the HBCU. His ESPN background as a basketball analyst is expected to anchor that effort. Perkins is close with former Jackson State head coach Deion Sanders, whose arrival in 2020 raised the program’s national profile.

ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins – 14-year NBA veteran and 2008 champion – has agreed to become the men's basketball General Manager of HBCU Jackson State, as well as a connection to its broadcast and journalism program, per Perkins: "I'm thankful for this opportunity to impact… pic.twitter.com/lTHV4tSn3a

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 19, 2026

Perkins entered the NBA directly out of high school in 2003 and spent 14 seasons with the Celtics, Oklahoma City Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers, and New Orleans Pelicans before moving into media, where he became a fixture of ESPN programming, including First Take and NBA Today.

Johnson, named head coach in April, is a Jackson State alumnus and the 2007 SWAC Player of the Year who spent four seasons as associate head coach before his promotion. Under his guidance, the program produced 2026 SWAC Player of the Year Daeshun Ruffin, who plans to transfer, gives Perkins an glance into the established core of young talent to build around.

Perkins becomes the latest figure with NBA roots to take a college front-office post. John Wall joined Howard as president of basketball operations in April, Stephen Curry as assistant general manager at Davidson, and Trae Young in the same role at Oklahoma. Perkins and Wall now anchor parallel experiments at two of the country’s most visible HBCU programs.

For Robinson, the appointment fits a tenure spent betting on bold moves. “I’m an HBCU guy, so I’m here because I want to be here, and I want to show people it can be done at our schools,” Robinson said. “I’m tired of people saying you can’t.”

With Perkins’ NBA network and media reach now tied to Johnson’s homecoming, the front office he is joining will test how far that conviction can carry a SWAC program to prominence on the national stage.

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