Jackson State women’s basketball coach Tomekia Reed fired shots at CBS’ “60 Minutes” for the way the Mississippi capital was portrayed in the program’s recent feature on Deion Sanders.
Sanders left Jackson State after three seasons as head coach of the football team for Colorado last year.
“60 Minutes” correspondent Jon Wertheim presented Jackson and Boulder as stark contrasts.
“The distance between Jackson and Boulder is a thousand miles, and immeasurably further culturally,” Wertheim said in the feature.
“Sanders went from a city that is 83 percent black to one that is one percent black. From a place with a water crisis to a kind of hipster college town where there’s a shop devoted to kites.”
Jackson State women’s basketball coach Tamekia Reed slammed CBS’ “60 Minutes” for how it portrayed the Mississippi capital.
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The ’60 Minutes’ feature on Deion Sanders featured a ramshackle house in Jackson, Ms.
60 Minutes
During the narration, the video cut to a shot of a ramshackle house, to which Reed took exception.
“@60Minutes y’all made Jackson, MS look horrible,” Reed tweeted Sunday night.
“You should be ashamed of yourselves for showing the worst house you can find in America and make it like that describes us. I’m not even sure if that abandoned house you showed is even in Jackson. #ThisisHome.”
Deion Sanders coached Jackson State for three seasons before leaving for Colorado.
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Reed has coached Jackson State since 2018 and under her leadership the Tigers have won the SWAC regular season four times and the conference tournament twice.
Wertheim did not immediately respond to an email from The Post seeking comment.
A source with knowledge of CBS told The Post that the image of the house was shot during last year’s feature on Sanders, and that it was near the Jackson State football facility.
Elsewhere in the feature, Sanders disputed the characterization that he left Jackson State “quick,” saying he accomplished his coaching mission when the team won the SWAC title last year, and explained what he told his players after making the decision to coach Colorado.
“Opportunity called. Sooner or later in life there will be opportunity that knocks at your door,” Sanders recalled telling them.
“At this juncture in my life I felt like the opportunity for not only me but for my kids [defensive back Shilo Sanders and quarterback Shedeur Sanders] was tremendous.”
Sanders’ 3-0 start at Colorado has captivated the nation, to the point where the Buffaloes’ game versus Nebraska last week drew comparable viewership at noon on Fox to the blue-blood battle between Alabama and Texas got on ESPN that night.
Colorado’s next two games, against No. 19 Oregon and No. 5 USC, will undoubtedly draw lots more intrigue.