With Monday’s news of ten-year head coach Andy Sharpe stepping away from his post with Mulerider Men’s Basketball, Southern Arkansas University Director of Athletics Steve Browning has announced that Associate Head Coach Logan Quinn will assume the role as head coach effective immediately.
“I am completely excited to announce Logan Quinn as our next head basketball coach,” stated Browning. “Dr. Berry and I agreed that we did not have to look very far to find the next leader of our basketball program because we had the right man already here. Coach Quinn has been so instrumental to the success of our program over the past three years and there is no doubt that you will continue to see a team full of aggressiveness, integrity and class! Not only is Coach Quinn highly respected across the coaching ranks, but he and Bella are just as equally respected across the Magnolia community and we will continue to see the high level of community support that we have grown to love here at SAU. I promise you this, there are exciting days ahead!”
Quinn becomes the program’s tenth head coach since 1950 and will be the sixth leader of the Mulerider Men’s Basketball in the program’s 27-year history as an NCAA member.
“I am extremely honored and humbled to be the next head men’s basketball coach at Southern Arkansas University,” remarked Quinn. “I am incredibly grateful to Dr. Berry and Coach Browning for choosing me to lead this special program. Words cannot express my gratitude to Andy Sharpe for everything he has done for me both professionally and personally. I have learned a great deal from him and have seen firsthand how to run a program with class and integrity. I will forever be grateful to Andy and Mandy for everything they have done for Bella and me.”
A native of Los Angeles, California, Quinn just finished his third season as the program’s top assistant and his first as associate head coach. When hired prior to the 2019-20 season, Sharpe remarked that “adding Logan to our staff was a big win for us [Mulerider Men’s Basketball]” and since then it has certainly proven so.
In his first three years on the SAU bench, Quinn aided the Muleriders to 46 wins, including 35 in Great American Conference play, a GAC Eastern Division Championship, three Great American Conference Tournament appearances with three wins and the program’s first-ever appearance in the tournament title game, and the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth.
Quinn has helped coach and mentor three All-GAC selections in Devante and Jalen Brooks and the league’s 2020-21 Player and Defensive Player of the Year in Aaron Lucas; the program’s first All-America honoree in the department’s NCAA Era. Quinn’s experience as a point guard proved valuable in Lucas’ growth to becoming one of the program’s top backcourt players of all-time.
Quinn added, “I am more than excited to continue to make Magnolia and SAU proud with high character young men that are great representations of our program, and I expect to build on the foundation of consistent winning that has been displayed over the last decade. I look forward to leading this program every single day and it truly is a dream come true.”
Much like his predecessor, Quinn’s a firm believer that success on the hardwood comes by executing on the defensive end of the floor, specifically on the perimeter, and by controlling the glass. In his three seasons on staff, the Muleriders have ranked in the top 45 nationally each year in three-point field goal defense and scoring defense, while owning top 30 marks nationally in rebounding margin in each of his first three seasons as well. Southern Arkansas ranked in the top three of each of those statistics in the GAC each season and since 2019-20, opponents are averaging no more than 68.5 points per game, while shooting under 33% from three-point range.
More so, Quinn’s offensive expertise has greatly benefitted the Muleriders in the past three seasons. In his first campaign on the SAU bench, the Muleriders owned per game averages of just under 69 points, 10.1 assists, and 5.9 three-point makes. With an emphasis on ball movement and improved perimeter play, Southern Arkansas has improved its points per game average to 74.8 ppg this past season (3rd GAC), made nearly three more trifectas per game at 8.3 (3rd GAC) and averaged three more assists per game. The team’s 392 assists this season are the fourth-most all-time and the most in the program’s NCAA Era.
In addition to his duties with the men’s basketball program, Quinn has transformed the department’s community service initiative “Muleriders in Magnolia.” Under Quinn’s leadership, 88% of the department’s student-athletes have combined to log over 3,200 hours of community service totaling just over $92,000 in economic impact since July 1, 2020. To date, twenty local community organizations have benefitted from the on-going initiative since the fall of 2020.
Prior to Magnolia, Quinn got his start in collegiate coaching at Tulsa where during his time on staff he helped the Golden Hurricanes to a 37-26 record in his two seasons which included wins over Oklahoma State, Memphis, SMU, Dayton, UCONN, and Kansas State. Quinn assisted in video edits for scouting reports, on-the-floor coaching, and skill development, as well as day-to-day administrative, practice, and game day responsibilities.
Additionally, Quinn is hailed as a veteran player development coach as he was an assistant for and worked alongside Mike Penberthy, former NBA Player Development Coach of the New Orleans Pelicans and Minnesota Timberwolves and current Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach, in the skill development of NBA players such as Luka Doncic, Anthony Davis, Paul George, Reggie Jackson, Jrue, Justin, and Aaron Holiday, Frank Jackson, Solomon Hill, Kyle Korver, Joakim Noah, Ben McLemore, Jeff Adrien, Devin Harris, PJ Dozier, and Nigel Hayes.
Quinn began his collegiate playing career at Little Rock in 2010-11 and helped the Trojans to a Sun Belt Conference Tournament title and an NCAA Tournament appearance as a walk-on. After transferring to The Master’s University to finish out his playing career, Quinn graduated in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and physical education. Quinn is married to the former Bella Gettings and the couple resides in Magnolia.
Quinn elevated to Head Basketball Coach at D2 Southern Arkansas
