NEW ORLEANS – The 2025-26 Sun Belt Conference men’s basketball season will see three programs usher in new leadership, as Arkansas State, Louisiana, and ULM each announced fresh head coaching hires. Arkansas State and Louisiana introduced first-time head coaches with assistant coaching pedigrees from NCAA Final Four-caliber programs, while ULM promoted a familiar face with deep Sun Belt roots.
At Arkansas State, Ryan Pannone steps in following a successful run as an assistant at Alabama, while Quannas White takes the reins at Louisiana after a long stint with powerhouse Houston. ULM, meanwhile, turned to veteran assistant Phil Cunningham, who brings extensive experience and previous head-coaching success in the conference.
Ryan Pannone – Arkansas State
Pannone brings over two decades of coaching experience at nearly every level of the game. Most recently, he spent two seasons as an assistant at Alabama, helping guide the Crimson Tide to the 2024 Final Four and the 2025 Elite Eight while leading the nation in scoring both years.
Before his time in Tuscaloosa, Pannone served as an assistant coach with the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans during the 2022-23 season, helping them to a 42-win campaign and a Play-In Tournament berth. His head-coaching résumé includes successful runs in the NBA G-League with the Erie BayHawks and Birmingham Squadron—where his teams reached back-to-back playoffs and produced 11 NBA call-ups—as well as a title-contending stint in Slovakia with BC Prievidza.
His global coaching portfolio spans stops in Germany, Israel, China, and Slovakia, in addition to experience at the junior college, high school, and AAU levels.
Quannas White – Louisiana
White comes to Louisiana after eight highly successful seasons at Houston, including the last two as associate head coach. Under his leadership, the Cougars amassed an impressive 243-44 record, won 123 conference games, and made seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances—including Final Four trips in 2021 and 2025.
White also brings experience from assistant roles at Western Kentucky and Tulane, and was a longtime AAU coach with the Louisiana Dynasty program, guiding the team to over 30 tournament championships and developing numerous NCAA Division I players.
A former standout point guard at Oklahoma, White began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater. He played professionally in the NBA D-League and overseas in France and Germany after helping lead the Sooners to a Final Four (2002) and Elite Eight (2003).
Phil Cunningham – ULM
After serving as an assistant with the Warhawks last season, Cunningham takes over the program following the retirement of long-time head coach Keith Richard. With more than 30 years of Division I coaching experience—including six as head coach at Troy—Cunningham is no stranger to postseason play or the Sun Belt stage.
Cunningham’s time at Troy was highlighted by the program’s first-ever Sun Belt Tournament title and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2017. He also spent four years as associate head coach at Western Kentucky, contributing to a Conference USA regular season title in 2021, and was part of the Hilltoppers’ 2013 Sun Belt Tournament championship team.
Earlier in his career, Cunningham served 12 seasons at Mississippi State, helping the Bulldogs to six NCAA Tournament bids, five SEC Western Division titles, a regular season SEC championship, and two SEC Tournament crowns. Before that, he spent five years working under Hall of Fame coach Lefty Driesell at James Madison and Georgia State.
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