EL PASO, Texas – Patrice Days (assistant coach) and Joseph Jones (assistant coach) will join the UTEP men's basketball staff for the upcoming 2026-27 season, head coach Joe Golding announced Tuesday. Furthermore, Drew Lakey has been promoted to a full-time assistant coach.
 
Days has more than a decade of coaching experience, including spending two seasons (2013-15) with Golding at Abilene Christian. He joins the Miners following four years with Mississippi State (2022-26), with the Bulldogs enjoying three consecutive 21-win campaigns and a trio of appearances in the NCAA Tournament in that span. After ending a stellar playing career, Jones worked with both Tarleton State (Jan. 2021-March 2024, June 2025-April 2026) and UTSA (April 2024-March 2025). As a player (2004-08), the 2019 Texas A&M Hall of Fame inductee helped the team go 95-37, advance to three NCAA Tournaments, including an NCAA Sweet 16 berth, before an extensive professional career. Prior to joining the UTEP staff last year, Lakey was part of a historic season at Ole Miss that culminated with a trip to the 2025 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. He will have added responsibilities in his second year with the program.
 
"Joseph Jones is a guy that I've respected for a long time, both for what he did on the floor as a player at Texas A&M and then what he's done as a coach at the stops he's had at Tarleton State and UTSA," Golding said. "A couple years ago, he was the WAC coach of the year. I think we're getting someone that's played at the highest of levels and then can also coach and develop young men in our program, and that excites me. Patrice Days is guy who worked for me when I first got the job at Abilene Christian early in my career. He was very, very young at that point, and then he's gone on and sowed his oats. He's become one of the premiere college recruiters in the country. At this point in time, I wanted somebody on our staff that could number one recruit, number two (develop) player relationships and number three was familiar with me and knows how I like to do things. I think we've hit a home run with Patrice in all of those capacities. So, I'm extremely excited to get him back in our program. Drew Lakey is somebody that has worked extremely hard over the past year. Although we did not have success on the floor, he brought a lot of value to us behind the scenes. He's someone that is young and growing in this business. He deserves the opportunity to be a full-time assistant coach. I look forward to him continuing to bring value to our program on and off the floor."
 
Days, one of the nation's up-and-coming coaches, helped the Bulldogs make three consecutive NCAA Tournaments for the first time since 2002-05 and just the third occasion in program history. He has gained valuable coaching experience in his decade-plus of work as an assistant coach at the NCAA DI level. He has held an important role in numerous aspects for every program he has been a part of, including player development, scouting and recruiting. After spending two seasons as a director of recruiting for MSU, he was elevated to assistant coach for the past two campaigns.
 
State cracked the AP top 25 each of his first three seasons at the school, including vaulting to as high as No. 14 in 2024-25. The Bulldogs knocked off 10 top-25 programs in that timeframe, the most such triumphs during a three-year span in program annals. He secured ESPN top 100 recruit, Jayden Epps, from the transfer portal for the 2025-26 season. Epps teamed up with Josh Hubbard to be the school's top scoring duo in more than four decades. He also served as the lead recruiter for 2026-27 commit, Willie Burnett III, who rated No. 74 in ESPN's Class of 2026.
 
"I'm beyond blessed and excited to be here. This truly feels surreal—a full-circle moment for me. To be reunited with the first coach who believed in me and gave me my first opportunity as a Division I assistant coach is something I'll never take for granted. I'm incredibly grateful and humbled by the opportunity to work alongside him again," Days said. "Coach has been much more than a coach to me. He's been a mentor. Coming back to work for him, I know exactly what the standard is: loyalty, integrity, hard work, and doing what you say you're going to do. Throughout his career, he has consistently found ways to win, and I'm honored to be part of that again. I'm here to serve others and give my absolute best every day to the university, our players, the staff, and Coach. I want to bring energy, positivity, passion, and a whatever-it-takes mentality to everything I do. I'm also excited to be working alongside an incredible group of grinders. Everyone on this staff brings a unique skill set, perspective and story. There's so much to learn from each person, and I'm especially looking forward to learning from Jeremy Cox. Finally, the history and tradition of this program are truly special. The legacy of Don Haskins extends far beyond El Paso and is recognized across the entire basketball world. Glory Road has always been one of my favorite basketball movies, and it's incredible to now be part of the program that inspired it. Growing up, I was also a huge fan of Tim Hardaway and his legendary killer crossover. Basketball history runs deep here, and I'm honored to be a part of the next chapter. Go Miners!"
 
Days also spent a year (2021-22) with East Tennessee State, which he joined after an impressive four-year run with Coastal Carolina (2017-21) with Cliff Ellis (No. 15 all time in NCAA for wins with 831). The Chanticleers went to the postseason twice, including surging to the finals of the 2021 CBI. The program thrived in several areas with his influence, rating within the top 30 nationally for rebounds per game and rebounding margin three times and doing so twice for field-goal percentage defense and offensive boards per game. 
 
In 2021 the squad ranked in the top 10 in the country for rebounds (43.5-second), rebounding margin (+9.9-third), defensive boards (29.9-fourth), offensive rebounding (13.5-sixth) and field-goal percentage defense (39.0-seventh). He demonstrated his recruiting prowess through landing DeVante' Jones, who finished as a 1,000-point scorer and was named the 2021 Sun Belt Player of the Year. He also was a Lou Henson Player of the Year finalist, which is presented annually to the nation's top mid-major player
 
Days had a pair of one-year stops at Wright State (2015-16) and Southern Utah (2016-17). He helped the Raiders finish at 22-13 and make a run to the championship game in the Horizon League Tournament.  He broke into the DI level with Golding at ACU (2013-15), serving as his recruiting coordinator to help lay the foundation for future success for the Wildcats.
 
Days also has experience at the prep level, working at Arlington Country Day School (2012-13) in Jacksonville, Fla., and at Mack Prep (2011-12) in Charlotte, N.C. His coaching career began with him as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, New Orleans (2009-10) before venturing to Charlotte (2010-11) as a director of player development.
 
Days averaged nine points and six boards as a senior for Piney Woods HS (Piney Woods, Miss). He started his collegiate career at Southern University before dealing with an injury. He also competed at Caldwell Community College before wrapping things up at New Orleans.
 
He graduated from New Orleans with a degree in interdisciplinary studies in addition to a double minor in business and education in 2010.
 
Jones, a rising star in the industry, ventures to the Sun City after showing his versatile skillset and ability both with Tarleton State and at UTSA. He spent last year with the Texans while working the 2024-25 campaign with AAC member UTSA. In 2023-24, he was thrust into acting head coach after Billy Gillispie stepped down due to medical circumstances after just four games. Jones proceeded to go 23-8 (16-4 in WAC) to help the Texans finish with a school-record 25 wins. They made their first WAC Semifinals appearance and advanced to the CIT Semifinals, their furthest postseason run at the DI level. He was tabbed the WAC Coach of the Year after tallying the second-most wins of all first-year DI head coaches in '23-24. Tarleton also had a school-record 10-game winning streak and claimed its most postseason honors in program history. Jakorie Smith became the program's initial first-team All-WAC honoree, KiAndre Gaddy was tabbed the WAC Defensive Player of the Year. Gaddy and Emmanuel Innocenti were named both on the All-Defensive team.
 
"I'm excited to join the Miners and the community of El Paso," Jones said. "This is a place with great culture and a winning basketball tradition. I want to thank Coach Golding for the opportunity, and I look forward to an exciting season. Picks Up!"
 
Jones helped the Texans transition to the DI level. He has been involved in all aspects of the program, including overseeing player development, film breakdown, position-specific training and much more. In 2022-23, his defensive intensity helped the squad pace the WAC in both steals (9.7 spg) and turnover margin (+5.68).
 
In 2021-22 Jones, who had a reputation for being a fierce defender as a player, had a hand in the Texans clamping down defensively during his first complete season on the staff. They were among the NCAA's best for turnover percent differential (+6.4-fifth), turnover margin (+4.1-ninth), turnovers forced (505-11th) and turnovers forced per game (16.3-14th).  With his aid the team got going late to finish .500 in WAC play (9-9).
 
He joined the program in the middle of the 2020-21 campaign a week prior to the start of conference action but settled in immediately. Eight of the Texans' 10 victories in their inaugural DI season came following his appointment. The Texans also were also amped up defensively with 10.5 spg while forcing 19.5 tpg to only allow 63.3 ppg.
 
Jones had a sensational professional playing career that spanned 13 years (2008-21) across nine different countries. He won a trio of championships in that timeframe, claiming the 2011-12 Balkan League and 2014-15 Winner League Champs in with Hapoel in Israel while staking the 2019 BSN title as a member of Santeros in Puerto Rico. His professional career launched when he was a member of the Houston Rockets 2008 Summer League team before embarking on a journey that included competing for teams based in France, Israel, Spain, Iran and Puerto Rico, among others.
 
Jones's arrival at Texas A&M marked the rebirth for the program, which advanced to the postseason all four years of his career (2004-08) and won 72% of its games. He etched his name all over the school record books, rating third in career points (1,679), second in made free throws (480), sixth in rebounds (843), seventh in field goals (588), seventh in blocked shots (96), second in games started (132).
 
He was an All-Big 12 honoree all four years of his career, in addition to garnering NABC All-District status in 2006, 2007 and 2008. He was also a Freshman All-American and a member of the Big 12 All-Freshman team in 2005. Jones thrived in the classroom as well, snagging a spot on the All-Big 12 Academic team in 2006.
 
Jones graduated with a degree from the school in agricultural leadership and development in 2007.
 
As a Player Development Coach at Ole Miss, Lakey was responsible for opponent and self-scouting, game strategy, individual and group development workouts, as well as video and statistical analysis including late game and special situation action predictions.
 
"I'm extremely thankful for Coach Golding providing me with this opportunity and trusting in my ability," Lakey said. "I'm all in and I will continue to do whatever it takes to win and make this city proud. I'm looking forward to our inaugural season in the Mountain West and grinding relentlessly with this group of players and staff."
 
Prior to his time with Ole Miss, Lakey worked as an assistant coach at Old Dominion University (ODU) where he was responsible for opponent scouts, player development workouts, prospect evaluation, film breakdowns, as well as on-court instruction.
 
Lakey directly assisted in landing three of the top five commits and the #1 ranked recruiting class (2024) in ODU history according to 247sports. He facilitated the adoption and application of analytics and advanced statistical data and assisted with various operational tasks pertaining to the program including on and off-campus recruiting. Lakey previously served as Video Coordinator for two seasons, and as graduate assistant and head manager for the Monarchs the year immediately following his playing career.
 
As a graduate transfer at Old Dominion, Lakey appeared in five contests making one start during the 2019-20 season. Prior to transferring to ODU, Lakey walked onto UVA's team from an open tryout for the 2017-18 season, when the Cavaliers won the ACC tournament and ACC regular season helping them vault from unranked to the #1 in the country according to the AP poll.
 
Lakey graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in government and a minor in entrepreneurship (McIntire School of Commerce) and from ODU with a master's degree (M.S.) in sport management.
 

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