Austin Peay State University head basketball coach Corey Gipson announced the additions of Dewayne Jackson and two-time Austin Peay graduate Dugan Lyne to his coaching staff, while also adding Matthew Morgan as the Governors’ director of player development. Additionally, Gipson promoted Travis Allen to director of basketball operations.
Lyne and Jackson come to Clarksville as assistant coaches after successful coaching careers across different levels of collegiate basketball, while Morgan joins the staff after spending last year as an assistant coach at Link Year Regional Prep. Travis enters his second season at Austin Peay and now takes the position of Director of Basketball Operations after previously serving as the special assistant to the head coach.
“We are very fortunate to have added Coach Lyne, Coach Jackson, and Coach Morgan to The Peay family,” said Gipson. “We also are elated to have retained Travis Allen. Throughout their careers, they have demonstrated servanthood, brotherhood, and unconditional love, which are the core pillars of our program.”
Dugan Lyne | Assistant Coach
Lyne returns to Clarksville after most recently serving as the head basketball coach at UT Southern, where he led the Firehawks to a 109-69 record during his six seasons at the helm of the program.
The 2024 Southern States Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, Lyne led the Firehawks to a 27-6 record during the 2023-24 season – the most wins since 2015 – while also earning the SSAC Regular-Season Championship after finishing 18-2 in conference play. He also coached three players to All-SSAC selections, including Adarion Hudson, who earned First Team All-Conference recognition following the 2023-24 campaign.
Lyne and the Firehawks began their 2023-24 season with their second victory against a Division I opponent in as many years, defeating Tennessee Tech 74-70 in the season opener. This comes a season after defeating Samford, 84-82.
During his six years as head coach, Lyne led UTS to two NAIA National Tournaments, 13 All-Conference selections, and one SSAC Freshman of the Year (Hudson, 2020).
Prior to being named the head coach of the Firehawks, Lyne served as the associate head coach at UTS for six seasons (2012-18), where he helped coach the program to three NAIA National Tournaments, a 2015 SSAC Tournament Championship, and a 2013 Transouth Regular-Season title.
Before his career in Pulaski, Tennessee, Lyne was the assistant coach at Manchester (2011-12), where he also was an assistant strength and conditioning coordinator and assisted as a game day administrator, in addition to his coaching responsibilities.
Lyne’s first assistant coaching position was at Westminster College (2010-11), helping coach the Blue Jays to a 2011 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Regular-Season title. He also served as the Blue Jays’ head men’s golf coach during his season in Fulton, Missouri.
Lyne began his collegiate experience in Clarksville at Austin Peay, where he served as the Governors head manager (2004-08), graduate assistant (2008-09), and Director of Basketball Operations (2009-10) under head coach Dave Loos.
During his time on Loos’ staff, the Governors won the 2007 Ohio Valley Conference Regular-Season championship, earning a spot in the 2007 National Invitational Tournament, and the 2008 OVC Regular-Season and Tournament Championship.
Dewayne Jackson | Assistant Coach
Jackson previously served as the head coach at NJCAA Division I Gordon State, where he led the Highlanders to their first Georgia Collegiate Athletics Association Tournament berth in three seasons.
During the 2023-24 season, he coached sophomore Derrick Brown to a GCAA All-Region selection after averaging 13.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. All six sophomores on Jackson’s team continued their collegiate careers at Division I schools.
Prior to his time in Barnesville, Georgia, Jackson was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at USCAA Penn State Fayette (2022-23), handling the recruiting of high school, postgraduates, and JUCO athletes in Pittsburgh and across the Northeast.
Jackson and head coach Andy Hendrick led the Roaring Lions to a 17-win season. Following the season, Torian Jenkins earned PSUAC West Player and Defensive Player of the Year honors, in addition to being named a USCAA All-American Honorable Mention after averaging 24.8 points per game.
Before coaching at Penn State Fayette, Jackson was the boys’ varsity head coach at Jewell House Academy (2019-21). He helped lead JHA through the COVID-19 pandemic season, posting a 17-15 record during the 2020-21 season, with a 6-0 mark in the Freelance Region.
Jackson also coached on the AAU circuit (2012-19), where he also was the head coach and co-founder of the Georgia Titans, 2014-19.
Matthew Morgan | Director of Player Development
Morgan joins the men’s basketball staff as the Director of Player Development, after serving as an assistant coach at Link Year Prep in Branson, Missouri, in 2023-24.
His duties at LYP included overseeing player development for the regional and national post-graduate athletes, assisting in scouting, practice drills, team travel, and more.
Prior to his time with the Lions, Morgan was a graduate assistant at Missouri State during the 2022-23 season, after serving as the head student manager for the Bears (2019-22), where Gipson was the associate head coach during this time.
As a graduate assistant, he assisted with scouting, in-game stats, and analytics, while leading and assisting on-court player development and on-campus recruiting visits.
Morgan began his career as a student manager at Harding, where he helped organize and set up equipment for practice and game days, assisted in game and practice film, and organized databases for recruiting.
Travis Allen | Director of Basketball Operations
Entering his second year in Clarksville, Allen takes over the role of director of basketball operations after joining Gipson’s inaugural staff last season as the assistant director of basketball operations, before being promoted to special assistant to the head coach in January.
As the director of basketball operations, Allen handles team travel, meals, organization, administrative duties, among other things.
Before arriving in Clarksville last year, Allen was the assistant director of basketball operations on Gipson’s staff at Northwestern State in 2022-23. He was on the Demons’ support staff for three years, first as a graduate assistant for two seasons before earning the title of assistant director of basketball operations.
Prior to his time at Northwestern State, Allen was the head student manager at Grand Canyon and assisted in training, organizing, and directing the Lopes’ student manager staff. He also performed numerous duties such as assisting in practices, weight training, travel, and recruiting operations.
Austin Peay Basketball Coaching & Support Staff
Corey Gipson – Head Coach
Rodney Hamilton – Associate Head Coach
Tim Ward – Assistant Coach / Recruiting Coordinator
Dugan Lyne – Assistant Coach
Dewayne Jackson – Assistant Coach
Travis Allen – Director of Basketball Operations
Joey Heimel – Video and Analytics Coordinator
Matthew Morgan – Director of Player Development
Robert Harris – Associate Director of Sports Performance
Lynson Willis – Associate Athletic Trainer
Yota Kimura – Student Manager
Tyler Lindsey – Student Manager
Alex Allard – Assistant Director of Athletics Communications
