Men's Basketball Head Coach
Kenny Bizot

Kenny Bizot has completed his first season as head men’s basketball coach as the University of Texas at Tyler in March of 2007. Bizot is only the second head coach in the history of UT Tyler Basketball.

In his first season at the helm of UT Tyler, Bizot won 14 games, more than double the number of wins from the previous year’s team and finished second in the ASC East. As recognition of his work with the Patriots, Bizot was named ASC East Coach of the Year in the conference’s post season awards. In addition to his award, Bizot had three players named to the All-ASC East second team and two players named to the All-ASC East Defensive team.

Bizot, a New Orleans native, assumed the UT Tyler position after distinguishing himself in his short coaching career. He spent 2006-2007 as the head coach at Jackson Preparatory School in Jackson, Miss., widely recognized as one of the top private schools in the South.

“Coach Bizot is the right man at the right time, bringing a wealth of recruiting, coaching and leadership experience at the NCAA Division III level to UT Tyler at a pivotal point in our brief athletics history,” said UT Tyler director of athletics Dr. Howard Patterson. “You know you're on to something when an entire department's coaching staff is excited about the hiring of a new coach. This is the sentiment around here as we hire Kenny as the men's basketball coach.”

Continued Patterson, “NCAA Division III experience played a central theme in this hiring. Out of almost 100 applicants, there were about a dozen Division I assistant coaches from programs with various levels of success and many accomplished high school coaches, but in the end the screening committee hung their hats on Division III experience as the top criteria in making this selection. Of the three finalists we brought in for on-campus interviews, Kenny stood out as the candidate with the most passion for recruiting well-rounded student-athletes able to compete in the American Southwest Conference.”

Prior to his year at Jackson Prep, Bizot was the assistant coach at fellow ASC member Mississippi College. During his four-year stint at MC, Bizot served as the recruiting coordinator for the Choctaws. With Bizot’s help, Mississippi College appeared in the ASC championship game four times and won two conference championships. MC made three NCAA tournament appearances and advanced to the “Sweet 16” round twice. The Choctaws were ranked as high as #2 in the nation during Bizot’s time at MC.

Bizot’s recruiting classes at MC have posted a five-year record of 119-35, including three straight "Sweet 16" appearances.

Before coming to Mississippi College, Bizot served as head coach at Hillcrest Christian School from 1998-2002 where he led the team to consecutive state championships and was named the Mississippi Private School Association Coach of the Year twice. Bizot led the Cougars to an overall 128-55 record. Over the course of those four seasons, Hillcrest won the MPSA Overall championship twice. Bizot was also named the Clarion Ledger Metro Coach of the Year for the 1999-2000 season that resulted in the first MPSA Overall Championship title.

In 1995-1997, Bizot was head coach at Porter’s Chapel for two seasons and served as graduate assistant to head coach Mike Jones at Mississippi College in 1994-95.

Bizot spent four seasons at Mississippi College as a player from 1990-1994. As a player at MC, Bizot won the team Mr. Hustle in each of his four seasons of play. During his senior season, he started in 25 of the 27 games he played. Bizot averaged five points and 3.9 rebounds during that season. He also led the team with 55 steals and finished second on the team with 79 assists.

Coach Bizot and his wife Jeni have two boys - Kenner (6) and a 9-month old, Will.

Kenny Bizot : Year-by-Year

Coach Kenny Bizot can be reached at (903) 565-5984 or by e-mail at kbizot@uttyler.edu.

Assistant Coach
Justin Henley

Assistant men’ basketball coach Justin Henley is entering his first year with the Patriots.

Henley, a native of Hatton, Ala., comes to UT Tyler after having served as the assistant basketball coach at Jackson (Miss.) Preparatory School, one of the South’s top private schools, last year.

Despite coming from the high school ranks, Henley is no stranger to Division III athletics or the American Southwest Conference. He spent two years as a player and two years as a graduate assistant at Mississippi College in Clinton, Miss. During his tenure at MC, Henley helped lead the Choctaws as both a player and coach to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including two “Sweet 16” berths as a graduate assistant.

Henley worked with UT Tyler head coach Kenny Bizot at both Jackson Prep and MC.

As a player for the Choctaws, Henley led the ASC in both free throw percentage and three point field goal percentage his junior year, and served as team captain his senior year.

Before arriving at Mississippi College, he spent two years at Northwest Shoals Community College in Muscle Shoals, Ala.

Henley earned his bachelor's in history from Mississippi College in and is working towards his master'ss in teaching arts from Mississippi as well. He currently resides in Tyler.

Assistant Coach
Larry Jones

Larry Jones, who spent 21 years as the head coach at Tyler's Robert E. Lee HS, will enter his fourth year with the Patriots.

Jones, known for his fundamentally sound teams, brings a vast amount of knowledge and experience to the UT Tyler program.

In an interesting coincidence, the opponent in Jones' first game as an assistant coach was Southern Methodist, his alma mater.

Jones has responsibilities in all areas of the men’s basketball program, including recruiting and practice management as well as game-day coaching responsibilities.