Derrick Tilmon enters his third season serving as the Associate Head Coach of the Alabama A&M men’s basketball program. Tilmon joined the staff after spending the three seasons as an assistant coach at Morehead State primarily working with the team’s post players.
This past season, Tilmon had a hand with the Bulldogs winning their most regular season wins since 2015-16. Their home wins over Troy, Jacksonville State and North Alabama were the first time the program had won three straight non-conference games since the 2010-11 season.
While at Morehead State, he helped the Eagles win 23 games during the 2015-16 season and earn a berth in the College Basketball Invitational.
Before going to Morehead State, Tilmon spent three seasons at Missouri State, where he was part of the Bears’ 2013-14 team that won 20 games and reached the postseason tournament. That MSU team had one All-Missouri Valley Conference player and one All-MVC Freshman Team selection.
Prior to his three seasons at Missouri State, Tilmon spent three years (2009-12) at Southern Indiana. The Screaming Eagles went 72-16 (.818) overall, winning 24 contests each year, and captured the 2012 Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament title. Tilmon worked with nine all-conference picks and three Division II All-Americans.
Tilmon spent the 2005-06 season as an assistant coach at Division II member Shorter (Ga.) before a three-year stint, from 2006-09, as an assistant coach at Division II school Kentucky Wesleyan.
A native of Clarksdale, Miss., Tilmon played five years of professional basketball in Europe. He made stops in both Austria and the Netherlands. The 6-foot-7 post player earned a spot on the Netherlands All-Star team and was part of the Netherlands Championship Series.
Tilmon played one year at Hiwassee (Tenn.) before spending his final three seasons at Missouri Valley Conference member Southern Illinois. He was a three-year starter for the Salukis, scored 605 points and finished 13th in school history with 58 blocked shots. His senior campaign in 1999-2000, SIU finished 20-13 and advanced to the second round of the National Invitation Tournament.
Tilmon earned a bachelor's degree in health education from Southern Illinois in 2000. He and his wife, Nicole, have two sons, Derrick Jr. and Darren.
