WEST PLAINS, Mo. – Jared Phay, head coach of the Missouri State University-West Plains (MSU-WP) Grizzly Basketball team, today announced the hiring of Michael Poindexter Jr. as his new assistant coach.
Poindexter’s first official day on the job was Monday, Aug. 14. His hiring is pending approval by the Missouri State University Board of Governors.
He replaces Braxton Williams and Walt Belcher, both of whom resigned earlier this summer. Belcher joined the staff at Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina, to aid the program’s transition to NCAA Division I competition. Williams left the Grizzlies to become assistant coach at Pittsburgh State University in Kansas, a NCAA Division II program.
“We are excited to have Coach Poindexter. He brings a wealth of experience to our program,” Phay said. “He has successfully coached at various levels of the game and will really help in our recruiting efforts.”
Poindexter, who hails from Memphis, Tennessee, has 19 years of coaching experience. At the high school level, he has been head coach of Cordova High School and the Memphis Blazers 19U AAU Senior Boys team, the latter of which finished among the top five programs in the country.
He also has head coaching experience on the post grad prep circuit at On Point Hoops Academy in El Reno, Oklahoma, and assistant coaching experience at the NJCAA level with stops at Marian University’s Ancilla College in Plymouth, Indiana; Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona; and McCook Community College in McCook, Nebraska.
Poindexter began his coaching career at Indiana Tech University in Fort Wayne, where he also earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
He also served as assistant coach at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, Texas, and as associate head coach at Texas A&M University-Texarkana where the 2020-2021 team earned a bid in the NAIA National Tournament for the first time in school history.
As head coach of the Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas, Poindexter led the 2017-2018 team to the Elite Eight of the NAIA National Tournament.
His most recent position was as head coach of the Rust College Bearcats, a NAIA program in Holly Springs, Mississippi, this past season.
For more information about the Grizzly Basketball program, visit MSUWPGrizzlies.com.
Missouri State University-West Plains empowers students to achieve personal success and to enrich their local and global communities by providing accessible, affordable and quality educational opportunities. Missouri State-West Plains offers associate degrees and credit and non-credit courses and serves as a delivery site for bachelor’s and master’s degrees offered by Missouri State University in Springfield.
-30-
