Texas Southern University has hired Corey Lowery as its new men’s basketball coach after players, students, and alums protested the expected appointment and called on the university to retain interim coach
Shyrone Chatman, HBCU Gameday reports.The Texas Southern Board of Regents approved Lowery’s appointment 6-1 on Aug. 19. The decision concluded a months-long search for a permanent replacement for Johnny Jones, who resigned in April after eight seasons to become an assistant coach at LSU.
The vote came one day after members of the men’s basketball team joined students and alumni in a demonstration on the Houston campus in support of Chatman. Video shared by Terrance Harris, college sports editor for the Defender Network, showed demonstrators marching and carrying signs that included messages such as “Keep Coach Chatman, He’s Our Coach” and “Student Athletes Matter.”
Chatman, a longtime Texas Southern assistant, had served as interim head coach since Jones’s departure while the university conducted a national search.
Lowery emerged as the expected choice earlier in August, but his path to the job faced resistance. The outlet reported that his candidacy previously failed to gain approval from two Board of Regents committees before advancing to the full board.
ontent-ad2">More footage of Texas Southern players, students and alumni marching on campus in support of the HBCU school retaining interim basketball coach Shyrone Chatman.@defendernetwork @TxsuProud @TigerFans @clarencehilljr pic.twitter.com/4mTxUgEWqs
— Terrance Harris (@TerranceCFB) August 18, 2026
Harris also reported questions surrounding communication between Lowery and members of the Texas Southern program before his appointment.
According to the outlet, the reporting included evidence of an exchange involving a current player and a recording involving a player’s parent.
Texas Southern ultimately moved forward with Lowery, who spent the previous four seasons as an assistant coach at Seton Hall University. According to the university, Lowery has 27 years of coaching experience, including 13 seasons as a college head coach, and holds a 266-73 career head coaching record.
“Coach Lowery has won at every level and every stop of his career,” Texas Southern President J.W. Crawford III said in announcing the hire. “Beyond constructing winning rosters and producing on the court, he is a maker of men off the court.”
Lowery takes over a Texas Southern program that competes in the Southwestern Athletic Conference as it prepares for the 2026-27 season.
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