Desmond Haymon - Men's Basketball Coach

Desmond Haymon

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
desmond-haymon@utulsa.edu

Desmond Haymon came to Tulsa in March 2022 following three seasons as an assistant coach for the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. He enters his fourth season with the Golden Hurricane

At Tulsa, Haymon has helped rebuild the Golden Hurricane basketball program, improving 11 victories from year one to year two. Tulsa posted a 16-15 overall record with seven American Athletic Conference wins in the 2023-24 season. TU won 13 games in 2024-25, including the first regular season sweep of Wichita State since 1995-96 and first win in Charles Koch Arena since 2001. Tulsa also took down Temple in the first round of The American Championship.

In his three seasons at Tulsa, Haymon has helped coach National Freshman of the Year and The American Freshman of the Year PJ Haggerty, as well as two all-conference selections, Haggerty and Dwon Odom, and four all-freshman honorees in Ian Smikle, Matt Reed, Tyshawn Archie and Haggerty.

At LA Tech, Haymon helped the Bulldogs to a 70-26 record for a .729 winning percentage with one postseason appearance in three seasons. The Bulldogs had three straight seasons of 22+ victories. In 2021-22, Tech finished with 24 wins while advancing to the Conference USA Tournament Championship game after victories over Marshall, Western Kentucky 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.
A year earlier, LA Tech posted a 24-8 overall mark while claiming the Conference USA West Division title and a third-place finish in the National Invitation Tournament. Tech received an at-large berth to 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 Western Kentucky in the quarterfinals and won a 76-74 thriller over No. 1 overall seed Colorado State in the Final Four consolation game. Tech 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 due to its cancellation because of the public health threat of COVID-19.

During his tenure, 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.

Previously, Haymon spent nine seasons at Stephen F. Austin, where he was a player, graduate manager and assistant coach. He was a Lumberjack assistant coach for two years (2017-19) and played a key role in the development of two-time All-Southland Conference guards Shannon Bogues and Kevon Harris.

In his first year (2017-18), Haymon helped the ‘Jacks post a 28-7 overall record and a Southland Tournament Championship which resulted in a trip to the NCAA Tournament. The year culminated with Haymon being named to the NABC Under Armour 30 Under-30 list.

From 2014-17, Haymon spent his time at SFA as a graduate assistant/video coordinator. During this time, the ‘Jacks won SLC regular season and tournament titles twice, advancing to the NCAA Tournament on two occasions.

As a player at SFA, Haymon amassed 1,159 career points, graduating as the all-time winningest player in SFA history with 97 wins. As a senior in 2013-14, he led SFA to the school’s first NCAA Tournament victory when his four-point play with just seconds remaining against VCU sent the game into overtime.

Haymon earned second-team Southland Conference and NABC all-district honors, while also being named to the Southland all-tournament team twice. He was also a three-time conference academic honoree.

Haymon, a native of Pickens, Mississippi, 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, both from Stephen F. Austin.

He and his wife, Chandra, have a son, Desmond, Jr., and daughter, Chaniya Haymon.

Year	School	Position
2014-17	Stephen F. Austin	GA/Video Coordinator
2017-19	Stephen F. Austin	Assistant Coach
2019-22	LA Tech	Assistant Coach
2022-present	Tulsa	Assistant Coach