Game day preparations look different for former Jackson State University basketball player Jariyah Covington this season. Instead of wearing a uniform while doing pregame shooting drills, she is on the sidelines for one of the team’s conference rivals, working as a graduate assistant coach for first-year University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff head coach Erica Leak.
When UAPB plays Jackson State on Thursday in a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) matchup, Covington will return to her alma mater, where she helped the Tigers win three regular-season championships, two conference tournament championships and two NCAA tournament appearances.
“It will feel different. First thing I’m gonna do is look up and see my name up there, like, three different times for all the things we have won in the conference,” Covington told Andscape. “So that’s gonna just bring back old feelings, old memories. I’m really just gonna be glad to see how I’ve helped that program grow.”
As a player at Jackson State (2020-2023), she experienced a lot of growth, transitioning from a junior college player to an all-conference Division I player. A native of Starkville, Mississippi, Covington spent most of her life and playing career within the state, attending East Central Community College in Decatur, Mississippi, before transferring to Jackson State.
Although Covington was talented, her transition to playing under former Jackson State head coach Tomekia Reed required development of her skill set on the court and leadership skills off the court. She credits Jackson State and Reed with helping her learn how to be a vocal leader.
“Being on the other side, just to see what she has grown into, being vocal, she’s not afraid. … She speaks her mind, and she does it in a way that she doesn’t lose people,” Reed said. “So I am just excited to see her grow from her first year to even now.
“That third year [at Jackson State], she was a coach on the floor. I didn’t have to call plays. I didn’t have to do a whole lot. Ja was my coach, and she was my eyes behind the scenes. Ja was in the locker room holding people accountable.”
After graduation, Covington briefly played professional basketball overseas before returning to the United States. She had a previous relationship with UAPB assistant coach Roderick Woods from her junior college days, and he put her in contact with Leak, who felt Covington’s experience in the SWAC and her proximity in age to Leak’s players would make her an asset to the Golden Lions’ nearly assembled roster.
“[When] I graduated, that was the longest I’ve ever been without touching the basketball,” Covington said. “So that’s my favorite part, just being here with the team, being able to have this opportunity to teach them what I’ve been taught over the years. It’s helped them grow because I want them to be better than I was.”

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Both Reed and former Jackson State assistant coach LaShonda Cousin were graduate assistant coaches before being promoted to assistant coaches. They offered advice to Covington once she accepted the position and have remained in contact with her.
“I just told her to remember everything she learned. She was under a great head coach, and she was in a great program,” Cousin said. “I also had to remind her to kind of separate herself [because] she’s still close in age with the team.
“I think that everything that she learned at Jackson State, the leadership qualities that she had and that Coach Reed continued to sharpen, she’s using those things at Pine Bluff right now. So she’s a really, really good role model for those players.”
Covington’s daily duties include joining practices as an extra player as needed and watching film. As a recent graduate, she is familiar with playing against dozens of current players in the SWAC.
Her biggest adjustment to her new role was learning new drills and understanding what the coaching staff wanted to teach the players on the court. However, as the season progresses, she is becoming more acclimated to working with the coaching staff.
“She’s taking ownership of her role. She takes it very seriously, and she gets in there, even if she has to put on her shoes and come on out here on the court and be an extra man,” Leak said. “She just jumps in there and gets it done. … She’s very thorough and efficient. I think she has a long career in this game.”
Junior UAPB guard Kristyna Boyd was one of several players to transfer into the program this season, and Covington’s playing experience has been vital in helping Boyd adapt to her new team.
“For the most part, everyone loves Ja. Her being there helps them a lot because when it’s something off the court she’s someone easy to talk to,” Boyd said. “When it is on the court and we’re trying to understand what the coaches are saying, she’s the one that [says], ‘They’re not really meaning it in this way. … Take a look at it from this perspective.’”
As a graduate coach, Covington utilizes a lot of visual tools to help her players understand the offense and defense. When she joins practices as an extra player she mimics SWAC players she used to compete against, and she uses her old Jackson State highlights as teaching aids. Being able to physically show players what she wants them to do on the court has helped improve elements of their game, Boyd said.
“I struggled with creating space for my defender if I didn’t have an open shot. I probably normally wouldn’t take it, but that’s something that she’s been working with me on,” Boyd said. “She says, ‘You got to take what they give you. If they give you a little space, you got to be able to create out of that.’ She shows that when she plays against us in practice.”
Several months into her coaching position, Covington has built a strong rapport with Leak and is connecting with other collegiate and professional coaches. Leak was drafted into the WNBA in 2005, and in October, UAPB hosted a Pro Day where players heard from former Texas Southern University head women’s basketball coach Cynthia Cooper – a Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer – as well as other former WNBA players and player development coaches from WNBA teams.
“I’m really starting to see it’s not about what you know, but who you know.,” Covington said. “My coach is just an amazing woman all the way around. I really look up to her, because she’s just a phenomenal woman. With her, all the experience and athletes she has [connections with] is really inspiring.”
When Covington played at Jackson State, Reed had already built a strong complement of players; Covington lost only one regular-season conference game over her collegiate career. But at UAPB she embraces the challenge of helping Leak build a strong foundation. The Golden Lions are currently 3-15 overall (1-7 SWAC) and are vying for a spot in the SWAC tournament, where only the top 10 teams in the conference seedings will have the opportunity to compete for an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.
“I told Coach, I’m rocking as long as she’s rolling. Whatever she wants to do, I’m right behind her,” Covington said. “We’re going to see it through, and we make the adjustments along the way.
“You see most SWAC teams, like, twice in the season, so the first time it could be a little rough, but you know that that’s what gels you together. So when the second half of the season comes, we will be a completely different team.”