Kyle Blankenship has been named the Head Coach to lead the LSU Shreveport Pilots men’s basketball team. He returns to LSUS as a coach after a one year stint at Lamar State College and the previous two seasons at Rogers State University. He was the first assistant coach at both schools.

Blankenship also played one season at LSUS, finishing his playing career in 2006 for the Pilots. As a player and coach Blankenship helped the Pilots to a 106-27 overall record, two regular season Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) titles, four consecutive GCAC Tournament championships (2006-2009) and four straight NAIA National Tournament appearances (2006-2009).

Blankenship guided the Pilots offense to a record-breaking season and a No. 1 national ranking during his senior season. He finished his career at LSUS as the school’s single-season assists leader (199) and single-game assists record holder (14), while leading the nation in assists-to-turnover ratio.

He began his playing career at The University of Tulsa in 2001 where he was a team captain, three-year letter winner and a member of two Western Athletic Conference championship teams. During those two seasons, the team made consecutive appearances in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. After transferring to LSUS to complete his collegiate eligibility, Blankenship returned to Tulsa and received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration.

The Shreveport native was a standout high school player at C.E. Byrd High School from 1997-2001, playing all four seasons for former LSUS Head Coach Chad McDowell. Blankenship was a two-time All-City selection as a junior and a senior, while earning All-State honors as a senior.

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