Men's Basketball
- Title:
- Strength and Conditioning
- Phone:
- 205-348-3630
Head strength and conditioning coach Lou DeNeen begins his sixth season at Alabama in 2018. DeNeen boasts 30 years of experience in the profession, including 25-plus years working as a college basketball strength and conditioning coach.
DeNeen has been an integral part of a staff that has guided Alabama to four consecutive postseason appearances, including a second round showing in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. In all, DeNeen has helped teams reach the NCAA or NIT a total of 21 times during his coaching career.
Throughout his collegiate coaching career, DeNeen has trained a total of 15 players who have either played or are currently playing in the NBA. Most recently, he worked with former Alabama point guard Collin Sexton who was selected with the eighth overall pick at the 2018 NBA Draft. While at Alabama, Sexton, who was an All-American and first team All-SEC performer, broke several school records on his way to becoming the highest scoring freshman in program history.
In all, DeNeen has worked with more than 25 NBA players, which includes numerous All-Stars. Furthermore, his clientele list includes five lottery picks, highlighted by the 1995 NBA Draft No. 1 overall pick, Joe Smith, and the 1996 NBA Draft No. 3 overall pick in Shareef Abdur-Rahim.
Prior to coming to Alabama, DeNeen spent six years at UAB (2007-13), following stints at Florida International (1991-94, 1997-2007) and California (1994-97).
In his six years at UAB, DeNeen helped the Blazers’ men’s basketball team to four straight postseason appearances (one NCAA, three NIT) from 2008-11.
DeNeen spent a total of 13 years in two stints as head strength and conditioning coach for FIU’s 17 varsity sports. He originally was with the Golden Panthers from 1991-94 and then from 1997-2007.
In between his years at FIU, DeNeen was the top assistant strength coach at California, with direct responsibility for the football, men’s basketball and softball programs. While working with the Golden Bears football team, DeNeen was the strength coach for numerous NFL?draft picks, including five first-round selections and three second-round picks.
As head strength coach for Cal’s nationally-ranked men’s basketball team, DeNeen worked with seven players who went on to play in the NBA, including Adbur-Rahim, who was named the 1996 PAC-10 Player of the Year and league scoring champion, and Ed Gray, who was the 1997 PAC-10 Player of the Year and scoring champion that same season.
Along with his collegiate experience, DeNeen has worked with and trained many professional athletes. His clientele includes: Major League Baseball players Alex Rodriguez, Raul Ibanez, Mike Lowell, Jose Cruz, Jr., Sean Rodriguez and Alex Gonzalez; NBA players Abdur-Rahim, Mark Strickland, Raja Bell, Jamal Mashburn, Carlos Arroyo, P.J. Brown and Joe Smith; and the NFL’s Tony Gonzalez, among many others.
DeNeen received his bachelor’s of science degree in microbiology from the University of South Florida in 1991 and earned a master’s in health education from FIU in 1994. He has been a certified strength and conditioning specialist (C.S.C.S.) for 25 years.
DeNeen is married to the former Tina Collins and the couple resides in Birmingham.
