MONTGOMERY, Ala.- Alabama State University will introduce Johnetta Hayes as the new Bama State Head Women's Basketball coach at a press conference scheduled at the Hornet Stadium Lounge on Tuesday, April 15, at 1 pm.
Hayes spent the 2024-25 season as an assistant coach for Rutgers University. She becomes the sixth head coach in the history of the women's basketball program. She replaces Freda-Freeman Jackson, who announced her retirement in March after 27 seasons as the program leader.
Hayes is a veteran coach with 10 years of head coaching experience, including six highly successful seasons as the head coach at Texas Southern University from 2013-19.
During her tenure at Texas Southern, she posted an 83-24 SWAC Record, winning 78% of her conference games with an overall record of 115-74. She led TSU to two SWAC Regular-Season titles, one SWAC Tournament title, and four overall postseason tournaments (1NCAA tournament appearance, 2 WNIT appearances, and 1 WCBI appearance).
In addition, she helped lead Texas Southern to a 2013 SWAC regular-season title and a WNIT appearance as the associate head coach. Haynes's overall record as a head coach is 197-165 and 130-80 in conference games, with head coaching stops at Wiley College, Texas Southern, and the University of Maryland-Baltimore.
Before Rutgers, Hayes most recently served as the head coach at UMBC for the past four seasons, leading the team to new heights and historic milestones.
In the 2022-23 season, Hayes led the Retrievers to an 11-win improvement, one of the best in the nation. Hayes also led the team to a 10-6 mark in America East play, their second-best record in program history. UMBC defeated NJIT, 82-71, to advance to the America East Semifinals for the first time since 2015.
Under her tutelage, Kiara Bell became the first UMBC player named America East Defensive Player of the Year. Bell was also named the inaugural America East Newcomer of the Year, earning spots on the All-Conference Second Team and All-Defensive teams.
KK White also was named to the All-Conference Second Team, while Ashia McCalla was voted onto the All-Conference Third Team and was named to the Academic All-District Team.
Hayes' squad excelled in the classroom. The team GPA also reached an impressive 3.32 for Fall 2022, and multiple players earned a 4.0 and Academic Honors, such as Dean's List.
Before her time in Baltimore and Texas Southern, Hayes spent two years as an assistant on coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke's staff at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. During the stint, the Seahawks recorded back-to-back 20-win seasons and WNIT appearances.
Before arriving at UNCW, Hayes was an assistant coach at North Texas (2008-10), where she helped mentor Sun Belt Conference Rookie of the Year honoree Jasmine Godbout, who became the second player in program history to earn the honor.
Hayes has also served as the head coach at Wiley (Texas) College (2006-08) and as an assistant coach at Prairie View A&M (2004-06).
The Houston, Texas native was a four-year letter winner at Rice University (2000-04). She earned First Team All-WAC honors in 2003 after leading Rice in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots, and field goal percentage. Hayes was ranked 16th nationally in blocked shots per game during the 2002-03 season, averaging 2.46 blocks per game, and is third in program history with 142 blocked shots in her career.
Hayes graduated with a Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree from Rice University in 2004 and earned a Master of Education from Prairie View A&M University in 2006. She has two daughters, Khloe Perry and Zoie Perry.
About the SWAC
The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is considered one of the premier HBCU conferences in the country and currently ranks among the elite in the nation in terms of HBCU alumni playing with professional sports teams.
Current championship competition offered by the league includes competition for men in Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Football, Golf, Indoor Track and Field, Outdoor Track and Field, and Tennis.
Women’s competition is offered in the sports of Basketball, Bowling, Cross Country, Golf, Indoor Track and Field, Outdoor Track and Field, Soccer, Softball, Tennis, and Volleyball.
Follow the SWAC
For complete coverage of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, please follow the SWAC on social media at @TheSWAC (Twitter), @TheSWAC (Facebook), and @TheSWAC (Instagram) or visit the official home of the Southwestern Athletic Conference at
www.swac.org.