High Point University Head Men’s Basketball Coach Alan Huss announced his third hire to the 2023-24 staff with the addition of Associate Head Coach Flynn Clayman on Thursday.
“Coach Clayman has done a tremendous job at Southern Utah,” Coach Huss said. “He has played a major role in elevating the program to new heights and has proven himself in recruiting, scouting, game prep, and relationship building with his players. He possesses qualities as a coach that are very beneficial to success and winning at the Division I level.”
Clayman joins the HPU staff after spending six seasons at Southern Utah University. In the summer of 2022, Clayman was promoted to associate head coach after serving as the assistant coach from 2019-2022 and a special assistant from 2017-2019. Clayman recently finished out the 2022-23 season as the interim head coach where he led the Thunderbirds to a 2-1 record at the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) postseason tournament.
“I am excited to join one of the best coaches, recruiters, and culture builders in college basketball in Coach Alan Huss,” Clayman stated. “High Point University is a special place. President Qubein and Athletic Director Dan Hauser have done a fantastic job laying the groundwork to have a successful program at HPU, both on and off the court.”
During the 2022-23 season, Clayman helped guide the Thunderbirds to a 24-13 record with a 12-6 record in the inaugural season in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). The team finished third overall in the WAC regular season, earning a No. 3 seed in the conference tournament. The Thunderbirds advanced to the conference championship game and finished as the runner-up. The Thunderbirds received a bid to the CBI postseason tournament as the No. 4 seed, and advanced to the CBI semifinals before getting knocked out by Eastern Kentucky in double overtime. For the third straight season, Southern Utah posted the programs highest NET and KenPom ranking with multiple weeks in Mid-Major Top-25.
In the summer of 2022, Clayman was named one of the “Most Impactful Assistant Coaches in Mid Major College Basketball” by Silver Waves Media. Prior to the 2021-2022 season, he was selected for the Big Sky Conference Big Sky U Aspiring Head Coaches development program, as selected by administrators across the conference.
Clayman played an integral role in the programs recruiting and player development, resulting in the programs first and only three First Team All-Big Sky players, Tevian Jones (2021 & 2023) and John Knight III (2022). Clayman’s additional responsibilities included game planning and academic liaison.
Since joining Southern Utah, Clayman helped the program to its first four consecutive winning seasons and three back-to-back 20+ win seasons since becoming Division I. Over the four years, Southern Utah has achieved an overall record of 84-44 with a conference record of 47-25. From 2020-2022, SUU posted a 43-16 record, a top-ten winning percentage amongst programs in West Coast Division I Conferences, and a 27-3 record at home.
In the 2021-2022 season, on top of securing the second most wins in a season in SUU basketball history, claiming a second-place finish in the Big Sky standings, and a first-round bye in the conference tournament for the second consecutive year; the T-Birds also went on to win three games in The Basketball Classic to reach the semifinals, the most postseason victories in the history of the program. Additionally, the Thunderbirds won the Fort Myers Tip Off in Fort Myers, Florida, the program’s first MTE championship.
The 2020-2021 SUU basketball team achieved the highest winning percentage in the program’s history (83.3%), a top-10 winning percentage in the nation, while compiling a 14-0 record at home, and won their first ever Big Sky Regular Season Championship. SUU also posted the 3rd highest points per game in the nation that season at over 85 points per game.
In Clayman’s first season as assistant coach in 2019-2020, SUU posted its first winning season in 20 years, its first Big 10 win in program history, and its first win over Montana in 20 years. The season was cut short while entering the second round of the Big Sky Tournament.
While Clayman served as a special assistant in 2018-2019, SUU posted its first ever Division I postseason victory, defeating MVC co-champion, Drake, in the CIT.
Prior to coaching at the collegiate level, Clayman was the AUSA Hoops head coach in Sydney, Australia from 2015-2017. He helped 30 players from Australia make it to NCAA Division I programs such as LSU, Creighton, Stanford, TCU, and USC among many other schools.
While still playing professionally, Clayman’s first coaching experience came as an assistant coach for BTI Basketball Club in the summer of 2015, an AAU club out of the Los Angeles, coaching former Utah Jazz Player, current OKC Thunder player, and 2019 Ivy League Player of the Year, Miye Oni.
Before diving into coaching, Clayman played professionally for four years overseas from 2012-2016, making stops at the Republic of Georgia, Brazil, and Israel. While playing with the Republic of Georgia, he was named the Eurobasket.com Rookie of the Year and an All-Star Selection. Clayman was amongst the top three in the Ecuadorian League in three-point field goals and points per game average.
Clayman started his collegiate career at Colorado State University and played under head coach Tim Miles from 2007-2009. He transferred to Troy University in 2009 where he played two seasons for 500-win head coach Don Maestri. In 2010, the Trojans won the Sun Belt Regular Season Championship and played in the NIT. He went on to play a final season (2011-12) at the University of the Cumberlands in Kentucky where his team won the Mid-South Conference Championship and reached the National Tournament in Kansas City. During that season he led the NAIA in three-point field goal percentage at 48.1%.
Clayman earned his Bachelor of Social Science in 2016 and a Master of Interdisciplinary Studies in Sports Conditioning and Performance, Communications, and Leadership in 2022.
A native of Los Angeles, California, Clayman attended Venice High School where he played for two-time NBA champion assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers, Rasheed Hazzard, who served under Phil Jackson.
