University of Louisiana Monroe men’s basketball coach Keith Richard announced on Friday (Dec. 20) his intention to retire at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season. Richard will continue to coach the Warhawks for the remainder of the 2024-25 season and will complete his 15th season as the head coach of ULM men’s basketball.
A former ULM men’s basketball student-athlete, Richard elevated ULM men’s basketball to a historic turnaround after the program was burdened with APR sanctions. Richard led the Warhawks to a total of four postseason appearances and has won 167 games at ULM, the third-most by a head coach in program history. The 2014-15 Sun Belt Conference and Louisiana Coach of the Year has mentored 13 All-Sun Belt selections during his tenure in Monroe and led the Warhawks to consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time in 25 years.
“This is my 40th season working as a college basketball coach and will be my last as I am retiring at the conclusion of this season,” said Richard. “I’m glad that it’s ending where it all started for me: right here at ULM. John Hartwell and I have been on the same page about the timing of my retirement since he came on board here. I appreciate him for working with me on this. Monroe is our home, Holly and I will continue to support the university, the athletic department and look forward to welcoming our next head coach. But first we have a conference season to play and I’m excited to go through it with this group of players. Talons out. Go Warhawks!”
“We are appreciative of the many years of dedicated service that Keith Richard has given to ULM basketball as a student-athlete and a coach,” said ULM Director of Athletics John Hartwell. “As we prepare to begin Sun Belt Conference play, we want to celebrate his career accomplishments and look forward to the successes of his current team in conference play.”
Richard returned to his alma mater to become ULM’s seventh men’s basketball head coach on April 22, 2010. He became the second ULM men’s basketball coach – joining Mike Vining – to have also been a student-athlete and an assistant coach for the program. He was with the Warhawks in both capacities for six of the program’s seven NCAA Tournament appearances in the 1980s and early 1990s.
A proven winner, Richard has been a part of all five of ULM’s winningest seasons in program history as either a coach or player. He was an assistant coach in 1992-93 when the program won 27 games, and in 1990-91 when ULM won 25 games. Both years resulted in NCAA Tournament berths.
As a student-athlete at ULM, Richard bridged the transition from Lenny Fant to Benny Hollis to Vining. He played on Fant’s final team, played two seasons for Hollis and then completed his playing career on Vining’s first team. ULM won three Trans-America Athletic Conference championships during his four years and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 1982, the school’s first-ever appearance, and the NIT in 1979. He twice led the team in assists and was team captain in 1980-81 and 1981-82.
Following his playing career, Richard spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at ULM (1984-86) as his alma mater won the Southland Conference regular season and tournament titles in 1985, earning a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
He spent five seasons as an assistant coach at ULM from 1989-94. In those five years, ULM won four Southland Conference regular season championships, four Southland Conference tournaments and made four appearances in the NCAA Tournament (1990, 1991, 1993, 1994).
A lifelong Warhawk, Richard has dedicated 26 seasons as a player, assistant coach and head coach to ULM men’s basketball.
Richard served as the head coach at Louisiana Tech for nine seasons and racked up the third-most wins in school history, coaching 11 all-conference players and helped the Bulldogs capture a Sun Belt regular season championship. Richard was named SBC Coach of the Year in 1998-99 and is one of two coaches to win SBC Coach of the Year at two different institutions. His coaching career included assistant coaching stints at Marshall, Louisiana Tech and LSU.
Richard and his wife Holly have three children: sons Luke and Lance, and daughter Lexie. He earned a bachelor’s degree from ULM in 1982 and a master’s degree from ULM in 1986.
A national search is underway to fill the head coaching position for the 2025-26 season.
“With knowledge of Coach Richard’s retirement, we will immediately begin the process of the search for our next head coach of Warhawk Basketball,” Hartwell added.
ULM’s Richard announces that he will retire at conclusion of 2024-25 season
