BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Long Island University Head Men's Basketball Coach Rod Strickland has added three members to his coaching staff, the program announced on Tuesday. Brionne Gillion, Jamere Dismukes, and Baronton Terry, join returning assistant coach Dalmar Ali and general manager Al Boatright on Strickland's staff for the 2025-2026 season.
"Our coaching staff is as dynamic and diverse as our roster, bringing together experience from every corner of the basketball world," said Strickland. "Each coach brings a unique strength, and together, we're fully committed to a winning culture."
Gillion comes to LIU with a background in grassroots basketball and media. A co-founder of Breakdown Magazine in 1998, the nation's first full-color nationally distributed prep basketball publication, Gillion helped launch Team Breakdown that same year, a grassroots juggernaut that produced numerous Division I recruits and NBA draft picks while winning multiple AAU national championships.
A former star at Coconut Creek High School in Florida, Gillion began his coaching career at Richards High School in Tallahassee, Florida in 1996. Gillion has also founded top-tier national showcase events like the Breakdown Shootout, Breakdown Hoops Festival, and the Battle for the Rankings Camp.
Dismukes comes to Brooklyn after serving as the head coach of the Homewood-Flossmoor High School boys basketball team in Flossmoor, Illinois. Over three seasons, Dismukes amassed an 81-22 overall record, earning back-to-back IBCA District 8 Coach of the Year awards in 2024 and 2025 as well as winning the school's first Class 4A IHSA state championship in 2024.
Dismukes also served as the head coach at Hyde Park Academy and has coached at the collegiate level at Indian Hills Community College and Black Hawk College.
Terry joins the LIU staff after previously serving as the Associate Athletic Director of Facilities, Events, and Operations this past school year. His most recent coaching stop was with Chicago State University, where he served as Associate Head Coach with the Cougars from 2021-2024. With Terry on the coaching staff, the Cougars improved their win total each season, including a top 25 upset on the road over Northwestern University in Terry's final season with the program.
Terry holds a deep background in high school basketball, having accumulated three coach of the year honors, seven regional championships, a state runner-up finish, and a state championship at high schools in North Carolina and Florida.
The Sharks enter the upcoming season off a 2024-2025 campaign in which they posted a 17-16 overall record and placed second in the Northeast Conference standings with a 12-4 mark. LIU's roster features three returning starters, including First-Team All-NEC selection Malachi Davis, Second-Team All-NEC selection Jamal Fuller and NEC All-Rookie Team selection Shadrak Lasu.
