IU Indy Athletics

Former Purdue standout Roy Hairston rejoined the IUPUI basketball coaching staff in July 2021 and will serve as an assistant coach for the Jaguars. Hairston is highly regarded in player development and will also serve as the Jaguars' co-offensive coordinator. Hairston previously spent two years on the IUPUI staff from 2016-18. 

Following his previous stint with the Jaguars, he joined Stan Gouard's staff at UIndy prior to the 2018-19 season. 

The Jersey City, N.J.-native brings more than 20 years of basketball experience to the Jaguars' sidelines, having trained elite players at the high school, collegiate and professional levels. 

In his two seasons earlier seasons with the IUPUI program, Hairston helped develop a group of big men that included Matt O'Leary, Aaron Brennan and Evan Hall, all of whom made tremendous gains during their IUPUI careers. O'Leary earned Academic All-America honors in 2017 while Brennan emerged as the program's top scorer the following season. Hall closed his career ranked among IUPUI's all-time leaders in rebounds and blocked shots.

Hairston has a long history on the AAU circuit, having coached and trained with EG10 (Eric Gordon All Stars), working with a group of players that included Trevon Bluiett, Gary Harris, Collin Hartman and VJ Beachem. He also trained a number of future NBA players at St. Vincent's Sports Performance, including No. 1 NBA Draft pick Greg Oden, Mike Conley, Mario Chalmers, Gordon Hayward, Jeff Teague, Marquis Teague and Carl Landry.

In 2011, he coached in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas as an NBA D-League Select Assistant Coach after winning the D-League Conference and League titles with the Iowa Energy with a 37-13 record. 

Hairston spent the 2015-16 season as an assistant at Marian University and had previous coaching stints at Park Tudor and Cathedral High Schools. He helped Park Tudor capture the 2014 IHSAA Class 2A state title and the 2013 Marion County crown on way to a 21-3 record. In 2012, he helped Cathedral win the Indianapolis City title and finish the year with a 20-4 mark. 

As a player, Hairston won championships at every level, beginning with a high school championship at Henry Snyder (N.J.) High School in 1990 and a junior college championship while at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College. He later won back-to-back Big Ten titles in his two seasons at Purdue and captured multiple European league titles during his 10-year international playing career. 

At Hutchinson, Hairston helped the Blue Dragons to the 1994 National Championship and was named the NJCAA Player of the Year. He finished his junior college career as Hutchinson's all-time leading scorer (1,687 points) and was later named to the NJCAA Hall of Fame. 

While at Purdue, he led the Boilers in steals in each of his two seasons and averaged 8.3 points per game as a starter for a 26-6 team in 1995-96. Purdue went 51-13 in his two years with the program and was 30-6 in Big Ten play during that span. He closed his Purdue career with 574 points and 306 rebounds while starting 47 times in 64 appearances, earning Third Team All-Big Ten honors his senior year.

Hairston completed his B.S. in Family Science in 1997.