The Tarleton men’s basketball team has added veteran coach Rodney “Mac” McConnell to its staff as an assistant coach.
McConnell has plenty of experience with Tarleton as a player and coach. Mac, as players and coaches call him, played for the Texans from 1998-00 and then transitioned into coaching as a graduate assistant in 2001-02. He became a full-time assistant for Tarleton from 2004-05 when the Texans made their first trip to the Final Four.
“Rodney brings a lot of experience with him and he’s a tremendous recruiter,” said head coach Lonn Reisman. “He played for me, was a graduate assistant, and a full-time assistant for me so he understands the tradition and expectations we have here at Tarleton. We’re excited to have him return to his alma mater and be a part of our basketball program.”
McConnell has made several coaching stops along the way before his return to Tarleton. McConnell was most recently the associate head coach at Wiley College for two seasons where he guided his team to the NAIA national tournament with a 25-10 record behind seven wins over ranked NAIA teams.
Prior to Wiley College, McConnell was the head coach of East Central University from 2011-13. McConnell’s first head coaching job came at Ranger College from 2007-11. He coached Ranger to two consecutive 20-win seasons, including a 24-10 record in 2009-10.
McConnell was also an assistant coach for Angelo State, McNeese State, University of Montana and Hill College. McConnell has recruited or assisted in player development with 12 former players that went on to play professionally, including former Texan Corin Henry. In addition to coaching basketball, McConnell is also a certified personal trainer, where he worked at Anytime Fitness for three years training high school, college and professional athletes.
McConnell earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree in Kinesiology from Tarleton. McConnell is from Hattiesburg, Mississippi and now resides in Stephenville.
