Drew Lakey joined the UTEP men's basketball staff as director of scouting and player development prior to the 2025-26 season. He ventured to the Sun City after spending working with Ole Miss.
Lakey was part of a historic season with the Rebels in 2025-26. He worked under Chris Beard, helping guide them to 24 victories and the school's second-ever trip to the Sweet 16 in 2025. They also attained a No. 18 ranking in the Associated Press.
As part of the player development staff at Ole Miss, Lakey was responsible for opponent and self-scouting, game strategy, individual and group player development workouts, as well as video and action prediction analysis for late game and special situations.
Prior to his stint with Ole Miss, Lakey worked as an assistant coach at Old Dominion, where he was the youngest assistant in the Sun Belt Conference at the time. With the Monarchs, Lakey was responsible for opponent scouts, player development workouts, prospect evaluation and recruitment, video operations, as well as on-court instruction.
Lakey directly assisted in signing three of ODU's five highest-rated commits, which led to the 2024 recruiting class being the best at the school and No. 24 nationally 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. Lakey previously served as video coordinator for two seasons, and as a graduate assistant and head manager for the Monarchs the year immediately following his playing career.
Lakey appeared in five contests (one start) as a senior for ODU in 2019-20. Lakey walked on at Virginia after making the team from an open tryout in 2017-18. The Cavaliers went on to win the ACC regular season and tournament championships, helping them vault from being unranked to the No. 1 team in the country according to the AP Poll.
Lakey graduated from UVA 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.
