Returning home to Ruston will be Tech legend Rennie Bailey who has served the Louisiana-Lafayette staff for the past three seasons as the top assistant to Robert Lee and has seen nearly 20 years of experience as a coach on the collegiate level.
At ULL, in both the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons, the Cajuns finished second in the West Division of the Sun Belt Conference during the regular season. In the 2004-05 season, ULL finished as the Sun Belt Conference Tournament champions and earned a spot in the Big Dance. Bailey also coached Orien Green who would be drafted by the Boston Celtics in the second round.
Before going to Cajun Country, Bailey was an assistant at Stephen F. Austin under Danny Kaspar and had the task of helping rebuild the program. The Lumberjacks went from a combined 22-32 record during his first two seasons to a combined 42-17 record in their third and fourth years. SFA finished second in the Southland Conference that season and participated in the conference tournament finals finishing runner-up in 2002-03 and fourth in 2003-04, respectively.
Bailey began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at Tech during the 1986-87 season following a stellar playing career. During his first stint at Tech, Bailey helped coach lottery pick Randy White (Dallas Mavericks, '89).
After working part-time at Tech the following season, Bailey earned his first full-time coaching job at Nicholls State under Gordon Stouffer from 1988-90. At Nicholls, Bailey helped sign Gerrod King who would play in the NBA for the Washington Wizards and the San Antonio Spurs.
It was then Bailey returned home to be an assistant on Jerry Lloyd's staff at Tech where he helped coach PJ Brown (New Jersey Nets, '92) and Ron Ellis (Phoenix Suns, '92) to the NBA Draft. During his tenure on the Bulldog bench, Tech participated in postseason play in the 1990-91 season in the NIT, followed by an appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 1991. From 1983-84 to 1992-93, Bailey was part of five teams that saw postseason play whether playing or coaching.
Following his career at Tech, Bailey took the head job at Panola College in Carthage, Texas, which is in the Texas Eastern Conference, considerably one of the toughest junior college conferences in the country. Bailey qualified his team for the Texas Eastern Conference Tournament two of his three last years at Panola. During his tenure, Bailey coached numerous All-Texas Eastern Conference players and seven of his players signed with Division I schools while many of his players earned their associate degrees.
Bailey received his bachelor's degree in health and physical education from Tech in 1987. He and his wife, Suzan, are the parents of two sons, Sterling and Stafford.
