Alabama State University Men's Basketball

Terrence "TJ" Royals is in his first season in 2024-25 as the Associate Head Coach for Alabama State University.  Royals comes to Alabama State after one season at Grambling State Universitiy and as an assistant coach at University of Maryland-Baltimore County prior to GSU. In his first year at UMBC, Royals helped coach a defense that finished the season third in the America East in field goal defense, allowing opponents to shoot just 38.4 percent from the floor and just 29.8 percent from three-point range, a mark that ranked second in the conference and 95th in the nation. Along with helping to coach the defense, Royal also worked with the guards where he helped senior Te'yJah Oliver to a spot on the America East All-Conference First Team. Royals, along with assistant coach LaDe'yah Forte' saw Oliver finish the season ranked in the top five in the conference in scoring, three-point field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and field goal percentage.  In addition to Oliver, sophomore Paula Rubio finished the season ranked seventh in assists per game (3.2) and freshman Lyric Swann was seventh among American East freshmen in scoring with 8.4 points per game.   Prior to joining the UMBC Retrievers staff, Royals spent five seasons as an assistant coach at Texas Southern University where he helped coach the Tigers to their first NCAA appearance in program history in 2017. Royals also helped TSU to three Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Regular Season Championships in five seasons.  Royals also helped coach Joyce Kennerson, the 2018 SWAC Player of the Year and just the third TSU player to break the 1,500-point mark in her career. Under Royals' direction, the Tigers led the SWAC in scoring defense, field goal percentage defense, and three-point field goal percentage defense for three-straight seasons from 2015-18.   Prior to joining moving to assistant coach at TSU, Royals worked as a video coordinator, helping to breakdown film and developing scouting reports for game prep.  Coach Royals operated the Royals Experience Training LLC. during his time in Houston, where he helped to develop professional, college, and high school players in and out of season. Royals is noted for working with former NBA forward DJ White, Overseas player Earl Calloway and former WNBA player Rachel Hollivay. Before moving to Houston, Coach Royals spent a season as the assistant coach at Gulf Coast State College in Panama City, Florida. Where they won the 2012-2013 FCCAA/NJCAA Region VIII Panhandle Championship and went on to finish 4th in the nation at the NJCAA National Tournament. Also, he worked four years at Tallahassee State College, where he assisted in the recruitment and training of multiple All-Panhandle Conference student-athletes. While in Tallahassee, Coach Royals also worked with the Essence Girls Basketball AAU Program, where they won the 2007 Nike National Championship, as well as Basketball on the Bayou Tournament and The Big Flava Championships. While with the Essence Program Royals worked with and trained over 10+ All Americans, 20+ overseas professional players, four WNBA players and countless four-year university prospective student-athletes.  From 2005- 2012, Coach Royals was the tournament manager and scout for Roundball Journal Scouting Service under Kelvin Powell. During his time with the scouting service, he helped organized AAU basketball tournaments and Basketball Skill Academies throughout Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and the DMV area; also, helping to identify such players as A'ja Wilson, Erica Wheeler, and Gloria Johnson to name a few. Royals received his Bachelor of Arts from Texas Southern. He and his wife, Jona, have one son, T.J.

Michael Irokansi is in his first season as an Assistant Coach on the Alabama State Men's Basketball stff.  Irokansi comes to ASU following four seasons as Texas State University's Director of Men's Basketball Operations. Irokansi served as the liaison between the coaching staff and TSU administrative staff to ensure all of the team's needs are met throughout the academic year both on and off the court. On the court, Irokansi assists the coaching staff with scheduling and setup for practice and game days along with game prep. Off the court, Irokansi will be tasked with managing the team's apparel and equipment needs, travel logistics, meal coordination and ticketing for both home and away contests while also monitoring NCAA/SWAC rules and regulations. The Pflugerville, Texas, native spented one-year stint as an assistant men's coach at Paris Junior College in Paris, Texas. He was apart of a staff, which led PJC to the semifinals of the Region XIV Tournament in 2021. Irokansi worked his way up the ladder and gained plenty of experience as an undergraduate and graduate student manager for the Tiger basketball team from 2016-20. He was in charge of practice setup and breakdown while also supervising a staff of managers. Irokansi also assisted the coaching staff with a variety of duties from recruiting, team travel, apparel ordering and player performance along with serving as a team liaison for the H&PE Arena when opposing teams would use the facility for practice. The Texas Southern double graduate earned a bachelor's in 2018 in and a master's in 2020.

Theo Howard is in his first season as an assistant coach on the Alabama State University women's basketball staff.   Howrd joins the Alabama State family  after serving the past five years as Head Women's Basketball Coach and Athletic Director at East Georgia State College (EGSC). Howard was EGSC's third head coach in the history of the women’s basketball program.  He led the Lady Bobcats to consecutive winning seasons and two straight trips to the GCAA Conference semi-finals.  He has more than 28 years of coaching experience from college, high school, and AAU ranks.  Howard spent three seasons as the women’s basketball recruiting coordinator/assistant coach at Columbus State University (CSU).  Howard helped recruit a class in 2016 that lead CSU to a Peach Belt conference championship and NCAA region championship, with a trip to the NCAA Elite Eight.  CSU was nationally ranked as high as 4th in the country in 2016-2017.  He also served as the Athletics Director for Development while at CSU. Howard has also served as an Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at two University of North Carolina System schools for more than 13 years.  His responsibilities included supervision of several key areas of student life including: Student Activities, Student Government, Homecoming Chair, Greek Life, Student Organizations, University Student Centers, Residence Life, Campus Recreation, Career Services, Health Services, Minority Male Mentoring Program, and Counseling. His experience as an administrator plays an important role in how he interacts with student-athletes and motivates them to grow, learn, and be great.  He believes that “student development” should be at the core of all that we do in higher education. Prior to his stint in higher education, Howard served an as executive director for the YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit where amongst many other things, he coached an AAU program that was ranked as high as #2 in the country and many of his players went on to participate in intercollegiate athletics at Division I Power 5 Conference schools.  Howard also hosted basketball camps partnering with NBA athletes teaching and motivating hundreds of children. Howard played basketball collegiately at Consumnes River College (Sacramento, CA) where he was a team MVP, and the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse where he was also a standout performer. Howard obtained a bachelor's degree in Psychology and a Masters in Sports Administration from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (UWL). Howard was honored as a recipient of the Parker Distinguished Alumni Award from UWL in 2015. Howard and his wife, Anita, have three children: Jason, Thallan and Theo II.

Tyrone Levett enters his sixth year on staff for Alabama State, joining the program in the summer of 2018, and his second as an assistant coach. He helped lead the program during a shortened year during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a pair of players averaging double figures (Brandon Battle and Kenny Strawbridge) during the year in which the Hornets played a conference-only schedule. Levett, who played for the Hornets from 1998 until 2002, returned to his alma mater after an extensive international playing career. Following his career with Alabama State, he worked for the Miami Heat and Detroit Pistons before getting his career started in Ireland with the Gleneagle Lakers. After short stints with the Kentucky Reach (WBL) and Southern Crescent Lightning (WBA), Levett played two years in Austria before playing for the Vermont Frost Heaves (ABA).   He also played for AD Vagos (Portugal), Jamtland Basket (Sweden), Niigata Albirex BB (Japan) and LF Basket Norrbotten (Sweden) before landing in Canada. While in Canada, he become one of the league's all-time top scorers playing for the Longdon Lightning (2011), Halifax Rainmen (2011-13) and Saint John Mill Rates (2013-until retirement).   Levett was a three-time all-star during his career and led Vermont to the ABA championship, while also being named All-WBA while playing for the Southern Crescent Lightning.   During his playing career at Alabama State, Levett helped lead the Hornets to a conference championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. He was also named Second All-SWAC in 2002. He scored 1,552 career points for the Hornets, including a career-high 489 as a junior. He also grabbed 944 total rebounds and recorded 124 steals during his playing career.

James "JJ" Jackson begins his second season at Alabama and fourth season overall in college coaching after a successful run as a high school coach in Montgomery. He currently serves as the Director of Recruiting, Player Relations & Community  Engagement He began his college career at Faulkner University (NAIA) where they made it to the Sweet 16 National  NAIA Tourney in KC Missouri in his two seasons. Jackson has over 30 years of coaching experience, starting at the high School level where he was the Head Coach at G.W. Carver High School, winning three AHSAA state championships (2012,2015 & 2018), and built Carver into a state powerhouse during his tenure with the Wolverines. He posted a career record of 531-129. Jackson has coached players such as Craig Sword, NBA ( Atlanta Hawks G-League, Washington Wizards and Indiana Pacers), Mack Wilson, NFL (Cleveland Browns and New England Patriots), Marlon Davidson (Atlanta Falcons & San Francisco 49ers, along with many other overseas players). He started his college career at West Texas State (MVC) in 1982-83.  In 1984-87, Jackson played for the University of Alabama, where they were the SEC Regular Season and SEC Tournament Champions (1987), with two NCAA Sweet 16 appearances (1986-87). Jackson graduated from Alabama with BS in Communication. He is married to Jessica W. Jackson and they have one son, James Jackson lll.   

Damien Madison begins his first year as the Director of Player Development at Alabama State after finishing his playing career as a Hornet.   A native of Montgomery (Ala.), affectionally known as “The Gump,” Madison had a stellar high school career at Saint James where he graduated in 2018. He finished his high school career with 1,000 career points, earning All-State honors.   Following his high school career, Madison went on to Huntingdon College where he finished his career scoring 1,000 career points. He was also an All-Academic performer and made the Dean’s List, before finishing his career at Alabama State.   Madison earned his Bachelor’s from Huntingdon in Exercise Science in 2022, before earning his Master’s in Business Administration from Alabama State in 2023. He is the son of Delbert and Kim Madison.