ULM has hired UAB associate head coach Ryan Cross to be the next head coach of their men’s basketball program.
Cross has spent the previous six seasons in Birmingham, with the first three seasons as an assistant before being promoted to associate head coach in 2023 under head coach Andy Kennedy.
Although he has been in Birmingham recently, Cross has familiarity with the Warhawks over the past decade. Before joining UAB, he spent eight seasons in Monroe under head coach Keith Richard. He spent six seasons as an assistant before being promoted to associate head coach in 2018.
While at ULM, Cross was a key recruiter for teams that made four postseason tournaments, including the 2014-15 season, which was one of the Warhawks’ best seasons in recent memory. Cross recruited players such as former Freshman of the Year Michael Ertel and former Defensive Player of the Year Justin Roberson.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Cross spent five seasons as a JUCO head coach, where he found a lot of success. In five seasons between Chipola Junior College and Barton County Community College, Cross led his teams to a 115-45 record. In his one season at Barton, he led the team to a 35-3 record and a national championship appearance.
Cross also spent multiple seasons as a prep school coach, as well as an assistant under Wake Forest head coach Steve Forbes at the junior college level.
As a player, he spent four seasons at Buffalo, graduating in 1995. He also got his start in the coaching business as a graduate assistant at his alma mater.
He replaces Phil Cunningham, who gathered just four wins in one season as the head coach of the Warhawks.
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