First-year ULM head women’s basketball coach Missy Bilderback has announced the hiring of Lauren Pittman as associated head coach. Pittman, who spent a total of five years on the Jones College coaching staff including the past four seasons, follows Bilderback from Ellisville, Mississippi, to Monroe, Louisiana.
Over the last four seasons, Jones College produced a combined record of 95-17 (.848), including four-straight 20-win seasons, four consecutive appearances in the NJCAA Division I Tournament, four-straight Region 23 Championships and three conference titles. Together Bilderback and Pittman have coached 10 JUCO All-Americans and helped 22 players sign with NCAA Division I programs over the past four years alone.
“I’m so thankful for Coach Pittman and extremely excited to have her join us at ULM as our associate head coach,” Bilderback said. “Her time as a recruiting coordinator in Conference USA and her overall experience level is invaluable. First, she is a great person, who truly values the student-athlete and their overall development. Coach Pittman brings great energy every single day, she is excellent in skill development and an outstanding coach with X’s and O’s. She also is very well respected and connected in this region.
“We have always made a great team, and I’m very grateful for the impact she has already had and will have on our program here at ULM.”
In 2021-22, the Bobcats went 25-8 overall, knocking off three nationally ranked opponents en route to their first-ever NJCAA Final Four. The previous season, Jones College posted a perfect regular-season record (16-0) while ascending to No. 1 in the JUCO national rankings on March 15, 2021, for the first time in program history while becoming the first Mississippi team to occupy the top position in 34 years (since 1987).
Prior to beginning her second stint at Jones College, Pittman worked for three seasons under Joye Lee-McNelis at her alma mater, Southern Miss, from 2016-19. The Lady Eagles won 56 games during that three-year span and participated in two postseason tournaments (2017 WNIT and 2019 WBI). In 2016-17, Southern Miss went 23-11 and advanced to the C-USA Championship Game.
Pittman was a member of Bilderback’s first coaching staff at Jones College in 2015-16, helping the Bobcats to a 19-7 record with appearances in both the conference and Region 23 tournaments. In her five combined years at Jones College, the Bobcats produced a worksheet of 114-24 (.826), averaging 23 wins per season.
Pittman previously served as a coach and educator at Petal (Miss.) High School, from 2012-15, where she was responsible for the strength and conditioning program and assisted the head coach with practices, games, fundraisers, camps and clinics. She also was a volunteer coach with Southern Exposure, Inc. for two years from 2011-13.
A native of Clara, Miss., Pittman won three letters as a forward at Southern Miss, earning Conference USA All-Freshman honors in 2006-07. She received her bachelor’s degree in sports coaching from Southern Miss in 2014 to go along with a minor in biological sciences.
