Alabama A&M head men’s basketball coach Dylan Howard has announced the addition of Emmanuel Tommy to his staff as an assistant coach.
Tommy brings 14 years of experience in the profession, most recently during his time as Director of Basketball Operations at Division I McNeese State during the 2020-21 season.
“Coach Emmanuel Tommy comes to Alabama A&M highly recommended,” said Howard. “He’s very energetic and does a great job teaching on the court. Being from the Midwest he is big on fundamentals and will be a great asset to our program.”
In that role with the Cowboys he was responsible for day-to-day operations, scouting, travel and overseeing the program’s academic component and also served as the director of summer camps.
No stranger to the State of Alabama, Tommy was a member of the men’s basketball staff at DI South Alabama in 2019-20, a season that saw the Jaguars go 20-11 overall and 13-7 in the Sun Belt. It marked the first 20-win season by the program since 2008-09, one that would see them win their final eight contests.
Prior to his time with USA the Michigan native served as an assistant coach under Greg Mason at Division III Centre College in 2018-19. That year the Colonels went an impressive 23-5 to claim the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) Regular Season Championship.
Serving under Mason, who would become that program’s all-time winningest coach during the season, Tommy was involved in all areas of the program, including recruiting, scouting of opponents, video operations and player skill development, particularly with the club’s guards. The latter would see him work with All-SAA First-Team selection Perry Ayers.
He began his collegiate coaching career in earnest after spending six seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Godwin Heights High School (Mich.) from 2012-18.
In that time Godwin Heights went an incredible 158-12, winning seven conference, five district and four regional titles in addition to a 2015 Michigan Class B State Championship. While there he coached four AP and six Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan (BCAM) All-State selections, 20 All-Conference honorees and a pair of Grand Rapids Area Player of the Year choices.
Over that six-year span, GHHS was either No. 1 or No. 2 in the AP Michigan Poll and the program tied the program record with 25 straight wins during the 2013-14 campaign.
Tommy also spent a season as an assistant with Grand Rapids Community College, helping to lead that program to an 18-11 overall record in 2014-15. That performance saw them reach the Region VIIII Championship Game after defeating the No. 1 seed in the semifinals, due in large part to his work with First-Team All-Conference honoree Demarcus Stucky.
He also served as a graduate assistant coach at Division I Western Michigan from 2007-10 and was a member of back-to-back Mid-American Conference (MAC) West Division Champions in 2007-08 and 2008-09.
In addition to his high school and college coaching experience, Tommy has a decade combined working the camp circuit and at the AAU level. He has worked the John Calipari Basketball Camp (2017-18) and John Thompson III Basketball Camp (2016) as well as been on staff with the Grand Rapid Storm of the AAU from 2010-14.
The latter saw him have the opportunity to coach players such as current National Basketball Association (NBA) and Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker.
“I would like to thank Coach Howard and Director of Athletics Bryan Hicks for welcoming me to Alabama A&M,” said Tommy. It is a privilege to be a part of a program and institution that have such a rich tradition and history. Both Huntsville and A&M continue to grow and I am looking forward to working with our outstanding student-athletes to help them do the same as they continue to excel on and off the court.”
Following his playing career at Godwin Heights, Tommy stayed in the Wolverine State, earning a pair of degrees at Western Michigan. The first of those would be in Public Relations in 2008 followed by a Master’s in Physical Education & Sports Studies in 2010.
Emmanuel Tommy named Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach at Alabama A&M
