New basketball assistants bring strong recruiting ability to TCC

By Luke Fay
TCC Athletics
luke.fay@tcc.fl.edu

The initial stage of the Rick Cabrera era as head men’s basketball coach at Tallahassee Community College is completed. Cabrera announced last week that he’s added Hayden Harkins and Chad Bailey as assistant coaches for the Eagles.

“I’m extremely excited for what the future has in store for the TCC men’s basketball program. With the staff and players on campus during the summer, it’s a great time to come together to work and put in the hours getting better every day,” Cabrera said. “I like our recruiting class as well as the student-athletes returning. We have a great mixture of young men that are college ready due to their collegiate playing experience and multiple freshmen that I feel are talented enough to make an impact from day one.”

Cabrera was named the Eagles’ fifth head coach in school history last month.

Since joining the staff, Harkins has impressed Cabrera with work ethic and his ability to recruit strong talent.

“His ability to locate talent and fit for the program is something that has stood out the most for me,” Cabrera said. “Hayden and I have a history working together at Arkansas State. I was able to see first-hand what Hayden brings to a program, which is why he was the first call I made when I got the (Tallahassee) job.”

Prior to Tallahassee, Harkins spent one year in the NJCAA ranks as an assistant with Pearl River (Miss.) Community College.

At Pearl River, Harkins was responsible for scouting upcoming opponents, recruiting, organizing and instructing skill development workouts, handling of social media efforts for the program, and overseeing academic requirements and progress of student-athletes.

Harkins helped navigate Pearl River to a 12-2 record, while developing NJCAA All-America forward JaRonn Wilkens. The Wildcats finished No.11 in the country and won the 2021 MACCC State Championship.

Harkins spent the previous two seasons (2018-20) at Arkansas State, where he served as a graduate assistant. 

While at Arkansas State, Harkins assisted head coach Mike Balado with scouting opposing teams, skill development workouts, overseeing academic progress, social media efforts, and organizing team equipment. 

Harkins received a master’s degree in sports administration from Arkansas State in 2020. 

Before Arkansas State, Harkins played four seasons (2014-18) at Elmira College in New York. Harkins was a two-time team captain and is second all-time at Elmira in career 3-pointers made with 256. 

Harkins is a native of Tampa, Fla. He graduated from Elmira College in 2018 with a degree in business administration. 

Cabrera also has another great recruiter in Bailey.

“Chad comes to TCC highly recommended from Southeastern Louisiana University. Chad has great recruiting ties and connections from the state of Louisiana as well as across the country,” Cabrera said. “I’m looking forward to him continuing to grow and prosper in the coaching business.”

Prior to Tallahassee, Bailey worked as a student assistant and graduate assistant at Southeastern Louisiana University.

The Baton Rouge, La., native was a student assistant for Southeastern Louisiana from 2018-19 under then-head coach Jay Ladner. He assisted with day-to-day operations, individual workouts, practice preparation, camps and equipment.

Bailey earned a degree in business management from Southeastern Louisiana in 2018.

Bailey continued his education at Southeastern Louisiana pursuing a master’s in Kinesiology from 2019-21 under current head coach David Kiefer. His duties included assisting in game planning/opponent video scouting, on-campus recruiting, coordinating travel and meals, working camps, running individual workouts, and player development.

Bailey helped in the development of Keon Clergeot, the second-leading scorer in the Southland Conference. Clergeot averaged 17.9 points per game in conference play this past season.