Desmond Haymon wrapped up his third season as an assistant coach for the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.

With his assistance, LA Tech has registered three straight winning seasons of 22+ victories.

This past season, the Bulldogs finished with 24 wins while advancing to the Conference USA Tournament championship game after victories over Marshall, WKU and defending champion North Texas. In doing so, the program became one of only 10 Division I teams in the nation to record back-to-back seasons of 24+ wins.

The 2020-21 season saw LA Tech record a 24-8 overall record while claiming a Conference USA West Division title and a third place finish in the National Invitation Tournament.  The team received an at-large berth to play in the NIT for the first time since 2015 and became just the second team in program history to make the Final Four.

The Bulldogs upset Ole Miss in the first round, defeated league foe Western Kentucky in the quarterfinals and won a 76-74 thriller over No. 1 overall seed Colorado State in the Final Four consolation game. 

The 'Dogs had the highest-rated defense in C-USA, ranking 39th in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency.  The squad also ranked No. 1 in the league and top 30 in the country in field goal percentage defense and three-point field goal percentage defense.

The 2019-20 team registered a 22-8 overall record during the regular season, but did not have a chance at postseason play with the Conference USA and NCAA/NIT Tournaments being canceled due to the public health threat of COVID-19.  The 22 wins ended up being the most victories of any Conference USA team and of any Louisiana Division I team.
 
The 'Dogs, who had the highest NET ranking and highest KenPom ranking of any C-USA squad, had several marquee wins including a 74-67 victory over Mississippi State in Starkville to end their SEC-leading 26-game non-conference winning streak. 

Haymon has helped coach four All-Conference USA selections in Kenneth Lofton, Jr. (two-time selection), Isaiah Crawford, Cobe Williams and DaQuan Bracey.  Lofton, Jr. also earned C-USA Freshman of the Year honors.
 
Haymon came to Ruston having spent the last nine seasons in Nacogdoches, Texas at Stephen F. Austin where he was a player, graduate manager and assistant coach.
 
Haymon worked as an assistant coach for the Lumberjacks for two years under head coach Kyle Keller.  He played a key role in the development of guards Shannon Bogues and Kevon Harris who both were two-time All-Southland Conference selections. 
 
In his first year as an assistant coach in 2017-18, he helped the ‘Jacks to a 28-7 overall record, including a program-best 16 home wins, and a Southland Tournament championship which resulted in a trip to the NCAA Tournament. 
 
The year culminated with Haymon being named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Under Armour 30-Under-30 list.  The NABC’s annual list recognizes the exemplary efforts of young men’s basketball coaches and featured 15 NCAA Division I assistant coaches, including Haymon.
 
From 2014-17, the Pickens, Mississippi native spent his time at SFA as a graduate assistant/video coordinator.  In that role, he assisted in film breakdown, opponent scouting, creating recruiting materials as well as working in practices, workouts and other day-to-day office duties.
 
During this time, the ‘Jacks won the Southland Conference regular season and tournament titles twice, advancing to the NCAA Tournament on two occasions. 
 
Haymon was no stranger to the Big Dance.  As a senior in 2013-14, he was responsible for producing one of the most famous plays in ‘Jacks history and his four-point play with just seconds to go in the second round bout with VCU sent the game into overtime and eventually led to SFA’s first NCAA Tournament win. 
 
He amassed 1,159 career points, graduating as the all-time winningest player in SFA history with 97 victories. 
 
Haymon earned numerous honors during his playing career, including 2014 Second Team All-Southland and Second Team NABC All-District, two-time Southland All-Tournament selection, 2013 Honorable Mention All-Southland and was a three-time Southland Conference All-Academic honoree. 
 
Haymon received his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology with a minor in general business in 2014 before earning a master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies in December of 2016.
 
He and his wife, Chandra, have a son, Desmond, Jr.
 

Years	School	Position
2014-17	Stephen F. Austin	Graduate Assistant/Video Coordinator
2017-19	Stephen F. Austin	Assistant Coach
2019-pres.	Louisiana Tech	Assistant Coach