College Park Skyhawks Announce Coaching Staff for 2022-23 Season

COLLEGE PARK, Ga. – The College Park Skyhawks and Head Coach Steve Gansey today announced the team’s new assistant coaching staff for the NBA G League 2022-23 season. Joining Gansey on the bench are Courtney Alexander, Derrick Alston, Ashton Gibbs, and Jimmie Oakman.

“I am extremely excited about the mix of experience and player development that this staff brings,” said Gansey. “We were thrilled to have four coaches from last season move on to NBA or head coaching opportunities, but we feel with Courtney returning plus our new additions, we will not miss a step and I am eager to continue to build and learn from my staff and to continue to develop and win with this team.”

Alexander, a veteran G League assistant coach, returns to the Skyhawks staff for his second season. Alexander previously served as an assistant coach for the Erie BayHawks (2018) as well as the Grand Rapids Drive (2019). Before coaching, he served as a consultant for the NBA and the NBA Players Association from 2014-17. He was drafted by the Orlando Magic with the 13th overall selection in the 2000 NBA Draft and played four seasons with Dallas, Washington, and New Orleans, averaging 9.0 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 187 career games.

Alston, most recently the head coach of the Westchester Knicks, the G League affiliate of the New York Knicks, joins the Skyhawks as an assistant coach. Alston spent seven seasons with Westchester, first joining as an assistant in 2015 before becoming head coach in 2019. Prior to Westchester, he was a player development coach for the Houston Rockets from 2012-2015.

Alston played four years at Duquesne University and was named First Team All-Atlantic 10 in 1994. Selected 33rd overall in the 1994 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, he spent two seasons with the team (1994-1996) and signed with the Atlanta Hawks prior to the 1996-97 season. Alston played two games with the Hawks in 1996 before moving overseas, spending the next 15 years playing for 13 different teams across six countries. In 1999, he led FC Barcelona to the Spanish League title while also taking home the Finals MVP award.

A former University of Pittsburgh standout, Gibbs also joins Gansey’s staff. The Scotch Plains, N.J. native comes to College Park after two seasons as an assistant coach at Duquesne University and head coach on the prep school and EYBL circuit with the NJ Scholars AAU program. After completing his degree in communications from Pittsburgh in 2012, Gibbs embarked on an international career that included stops in Greece, Spain, Lebanon, Dominican Republic, Belgium, and Argentina between 2012 and 2018.

Oakman joins as an assistant coach after spending the last four seasons as an assistant coach with the Long Island Nets, Brooklyn’s NBA G League affiliate. Prior to his time with the Nets, he spent four seasons on the coaching staff at Boston University. He also spent three years as an assistant coach at Daniel Webster College and two years at Amherst-Pelham Regional High School (Amherst, MA). 

The coaching staff will be supported by Assistant General Manager Ty Conyers, Head Athletic Trainer Kelly German, Assistant Athletic Trainer Kendyl Miller, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Richard McLoughlin, Equipment Manager Chris Raasch, and Operations Assistants Alex Bowman and Aaron Evans.

The Skyhawks’ first regular season game will be at home versus the Long Island Nets on Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. ET at Gateway Center Arena. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased by visiting cpskyhawks.com, emailing info@cpskyhawks.com or calling 404-878-3370.