MONROE, La. – ULM head men's basketball coach Phil Cunningham announced three additions to his coaching staff on Monday (April 14).
 
Monroe native and the Ragin' Cajuns interim head coach for the 2024-25 season Derrick Zimmerman has been named associate head men's basketball coach of the Warhawks. Franklin Miskelly, who spent the previous two seasons as the director of video & analytics at Kansas State, has joined the ULM men's basketball coaching staff as an assistant coach. Christopher Woodall will remain on the Warhawks' coaching staff as an assistant coach for his third season.
 
DERRICK ZIMMERMAN, ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH
Zimmerman returns home to Monroe after serving as the interim head coach of the Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball program for 21 games during the 2024-25 season and led the Cajuns to a win in the First Round of the Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Championship.

During his four seasons on the basketball staff in Lafayette, Zimmerman helped the Cajuns to the second most wins in program history (26) and a return to the NCAA Tournament with a Sun Belt Conference championship in 2022-23.  Under his guidance, the Cajuns finished 16th in the country in field goal shooting (.482 percent) and 24th in three-point shooting (.376 percent).  The team also finished among the top three in the Sun Belt in scoring offense (77.4), rebound margin (6.1), field goal percentage, three-point percentage, free throws made per game (14.4), and assists per game (14.4).
 
Zimmerman, who spent the 2020-21 season as the Mississippi State Bulldogs' Director of Scouting & Analytics, also headed the oversight of the program's video operations and statistical metrics. He assisted the MSU coaching staff with the development of opponent scouting reports.   
 
Zimmerman assisted with player development and opponent scouting during his two-year graduate assistant tenure where the Bulldogs posted back-to-back 20-plus win seasons fueled by a 2019 NCAA Tournament appearance. Mississippi State also captured consecutive campaigns with 10-plus SEC victories for the first time dating back to 1994-95 and 1995-96 coupled with the program's best finish SEC regular season finish in 2019-20 going back to 2010-11.
 
Zimmerman rejoined the MSU program after a 10-year professional career that spanned six countries after a successful four-year stint with the Maroon and White that included a pair of All-SEC selections during the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons.
 
A standout player and 1999 graduate of Wossman High School, Zimmerman continued his playing career at Mississippi State and played in Starkville from 1999-2003, with three seasons under Phil Cunningham as an assistant coach on the Bulldogs' staff. Zimmerman helped the Bulldogs reach three straight postseason trips highlighted by the 2002 and 2003 NCAA Tournaments. The Bulldogs also captured the 2002 SEC Tournament crown and the 2003 SEC Western Division title. His efforts also helped MSU to its highest win total in program history with a 27-8 mark in 2001-02.
 
Over his four-year career, Zimmerman left his mark on the program's record book. He sits in second place with 514 career assists only behind Dee Bost. Zimmerman was the SEC's assist champion in 2001-02 and 2002-03. He is one of three players in program history joining Chuck Evans and Detrick White, in addition to being one of eight players to lead the conference in assists during multiple seasons in SEC history.
 
Zimmerman garnered 205 career steals which is second highest in program history only behind Ray White. At 6-foot-3, he also led the Bulldogs in blocks over his final three seasons and finished his career ranked among MSU's top 10 in career blocks with 89.
 
Following his MSU career, Zimmerman was selected in the second round with the 40th overall pick by the Golden State Warriors in the 2003 NBA Draft. He played in the NBA D-League for the Columbus Riverdragons (2004-05) and Austin Toros (2005-06). In both seasons, Zimmerman was named the NBDL's Defensive Player of the Year. Zimmerman saw time in two games with the NBA's New Jersey Nets during the 2005-06 season before taking his talents overseas.
 
In December 2006, Zimmerman signed with the Brose Baskets of the Basketball Bundesliga in Germany. He finished out the season with Italy's Air Avellino. In summer 2008, he signed with Budivelnyk Kyiv in Ukraine. He remained in Ukraine until 2013 where he played with BC Goverla, BC Kyiv and SK Dnipro-Azot Dniprodzerzhynsk. Between time in Italy and Ukraine, Zimmerman played a brief stint with HKK Široki in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
 
Zimmerman returned to Germany in February 2013 when he signed with Giants Ludwigsburg and played with the club for the rest of the season. Then, he moved to Poland in January 2014 to play with Czarni Slupsk for the rest of that season.
 
Zimmerman was born on December 2 to Dale and Addie Zimmerman. He has one brother, Dale Zimmerman Jr., and a son, Derrick Dewayne Zimmerman Jr., and a daughter, Zaria Zimmerman.
 
FRANKLIN MISKELLY, ASSISTANT COACH
Miskelly spent the previous two seasons as Kansas State's director of video and analytics under head coach Jerome Tang. During his time in Manhattan, the Wildcats won 35 games across two seasons and made an appearance in the 2024 NIT. The Wildcats also set a new Division I single-season record with seven overtime wins, including three times in Big 12 action. Miskelly also helped in the development of All-Big 12 selectees Arthur Kaluma and Tylor Perry in 2023-24 and Coleman Hawkins and David N'Guessan in 2024-25.
 
Miskelly came to K-State after a two-year stint (2021-23) as a graduate assistant at Mississippi State for head coaches Ben Howland and Chris Jans, helping the Bulldogs win 39 games and advance to the postseason in back-to-back seasons, including the NCAA Tournament in 2022-23. He also assisted in the development of a pair of First Team All-SEC selections in Iverson Molinar (2022) and Tolu Smith (2023).
 
The two-time MSU graduate and native of Flowood, Miss., was a student manager for Howland from 2019-21. Miskelly was part of 77 wins while at Mississippi State, including a pair of 20-win seasons (2019-20 and 2022-23) and three postseason appearances (two NIT and one NCAA Tournament).
 
In 2022-23, Miskelly helped a MSU squad return to college basketball's biggest stage with 21 victories and an NCAA Tournament appearance in Jans' first season. The Bulldogs climbed as high as No. 15 in the national rankings after an 11-0 start, which matched the program's second-best start to a season. The team captured signature wins over BIG EAST regular season and tournament champion Marquette as well as NCAA Tournament teams Arkansas, Missouri, TCU and Texas A&M, while finishing the season with victories in eight of their last 11 games.
 
Smith, an All-SEC First Team selection by both the league coaches and the Associated Press, led the league in field goal percentage (57.2) and was second in rebounding (8.5 rpg.) and eighth in scoring (15.8 ppg.). The Bulldogs had three players – Dashawn Davis, Cameron Matthews and Shakeel Moore – post at least 50 steals for the first time in program history while all ranking in the SEC's top-10.
 
In his first season back as a graduate assistant, Miskelly helped MSU post an 18-16 record, including wins over NCAA Tournament participants Alabama and Arkansas, and advance to the NIT in Howland's final season in 2021-22. Molinar ranked in the SEC's top-10 in four categories, including third in scoring (17.5 ppg.) and free throw percentage (86.8), en route to receiving First Team All-SEC honors.
 
Miskelly was a student manager for two seasons (2019-21) under Howland at MSU, helping the Bulldogs to 38 wins and a trip to the NIT Championship game in 2020-21. The Maroon and White were projected to advance to the NCAA Tournament in 2019-20, assembling 20 wins with 11 coming in SEC play, before it was cancelled due COVID. The team earned 18 victories in 2020-21, including wins over Saint Louis, Richmond and Louisiana Tech to advance to the NIT Finals, where they lost to Memphis.
 
In between two stints at his alma mater as a student manager and graduate assistant, Miskelly spent six months as a graduate assistant at Southern Miss, where he met current K-State assistant coach Anthony Winchester while both worked for first-year head coach Jay Ladner.
 
Miskelly began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Winston Academy in Louisville, Miss., in 2018-19, helping the Patriots double their win total and post a winning record. He helped in all facets of the program, including serving as head coach on multiple occasions.
 
Miskelly earned his Bachelor of Science degree in interdisciplinary studies from Mississippi State in May 2021. He added a master's degree in sport administration in May 2023.
 
Miskelly, and his wife McKenzie, who have known each other since the age of 8 and been dating since high school, will celebrate their fourth wedding anniversary in October.
 
CHRISTOPHER WOODALL, ASSISTANT COACH
Christopher Woodall will begin his third season as a member the ULM men's basketball staff for the 2025-26 season.
While at ULM, Woodall has played a key factor in scouting and player development and helped Nika Metskhvarishvili to an All-Sun Belt Conference Third Team selection after he led the Warhawks in scoring (12.4 points per game) and rebounding (5.8 rebounds per game) during the 2023-24 season.

Woodall arrived at ULM from Southeastern, where he was the recruiting coordinator and in charge of player development for the Lions during the 2022-23 season.
 
He spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Jackson State from 2018-22 in his hometown of Jackson, Mississippi. Woodall helped the Tigers to the 2020-21 regular season SWAC championship, going 11-0 in conference play. In addition, 12 student-athletes graduated over his four seasons with a 2.7 grade-point average or higher.
 
Prior to joining the staff at JSU, Woodall spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Pearl River Community College in Poplarville, Mississippi, from 2016-19. The Wildcats won the 2018-19 Region 23 Championship and finished as South State Champions with a 26-4 record. In 2017-18, PRCC won the MACCC State Tournament Championship and finished as Region 23 runner-up with a 23-5 mark.
 
Before PRCC, he was a full-time assistant at William Carey from 2014-16, helping the Crusaders to a regular season conference championship in 2015-16. He started his coaching career at William Carey as a graduate assistant from 2012-14, helping the Crusaders claim a pair of regular season conference championships, including an 18-0 record in conference play in 2013-14.
 
Woodall attended and played for William Carey from 2009-11, playing under Mississippi Hall of Fame Coach Steve Knight. He earned a bachelor of science degree in physical education from WCU in May 2012 and a master of education degree in social science in August 2014. He earned a second master of education degree, coming in sports management, from Jackson State in July 2016. He also earned a specialist in education, school psychology/psychometry from JSU in December 2020.