Alex Ireland

Position

Head Coach
Alma Mater

Kennesaw State
Graduation Year

2012
Email

aireland@daltonstate.edu

Alex Ireland joined the Dalton State Basketball staff in 2017 as the had assistant to then coach Tony Ingle. he assumed the role of Interim Head Coach for the 2018-19 season following Ingle's retirement and guided the Birds to an 18-13 record including a 13-9 mark in SSAC play.

The interim tag was removed after the successful season as he became the 3rd overall head coach of Roadrunner basketball on March 14, 2019.

PATH TO DALTON STATE
Ireland attended Collins Hill High School in Lawrenceville, Ga. and attended Kennesaw State University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in American History in 2012.

Upon graduating from Kennesaw State, Ireland coached under Greg Matta at North Cobb Christian School, tutoring six future NCAA Division I athletes.

From 2013-15, he would attend Valdosta State as a basketball graduate assistant, obtaining his Master's degree in Higher Education Leadership.

He would find a place on Montez Robinson's staff at Alcorn State in 2015. Inheriting a program under probation, he would help Robinson guide the Braves, who only won six games the year before, to a 15-15 overall record and a 13-5 mark in the SWAC. For their work, Robinson was a Ben Jobe Minority Coach of the Year nominee.

Ireland would continue his journey to UT-Martin in 2016, where he helped coach Anthony Stewart lead the Skyhawks to a 22-13 record and #2-seed in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. In doing so, the Skyhawks tied the school record for wins in a season, the most since moving to Division I, while Stewart earned a nomination for the Ben Jobe Minority Coach of the Year.

TIME WITH THE ROADRUNNERS
Tony Ingle was able to lure Ireland away from the Skyhawks and back to his home state of Georgia in 2017 to become the head assistant for Dalton State. That season, he helped DS to a 25-9 overall record and an appearance in the NAIA National Championship where they lost an overtime heartbreaker to William Penn (Iowa).

After a solid 18-13 season as the interim head coach of the Roadrunners in 18-19, it was Shangri-la for the 19-20 squad as they set the program-record for consecutive wins to start the season with 7 and consecutive wins all-time with 17. They finished with a 30-3 record, won the SSAC Tournament Championship and received a #1-seed (#4 overall) in the NAIA Tournament. The coronavirus pandemic would cancel the 2020 NAIA Tournament which meant the Roadrunners would not have a chance to play for a National Championship.

COVID protocols and injuries dominated the 20-21 season as the Roadrunners stayed positive through canceled and rescheduled games to fight to a 7-11 record with sometimes as few as 7 players available to play.

The Roadrunners battled the COVID bug once again in the middle of the 21-22 season and came away with a 14-16 mark with a new and inconsistent roster. Still, Dalton State played hard taking several top teams down to the wire including leading at the end of three halves against a top-5 Talladega team that played in the NAIA national championship game.

The 22-23 squad had another solid season with a 17-12 overall record including an 11-9 mark in the SSAC. They took the #6-seed in the conference tournament and came up just short to Stillman (Ala.) in a first round game that would eventually be forfeited by the Tigers for playing an ineligible player.

Dalton State showed talent on the court but the total package never quite came together as the Birds went 15-13, losing 5 of their last 6 games to close the year after winning 5-of-6 before the final stretch.

Achievements

3 NAIA All-Americans
10 All-Conference selections
2 SSAC Players of the Year
4 Daktronics Scholar-Athletes
9 SSAC All-Academic team selections

Coaching Experience

Years	School	Position	Record
2019-Present	Dalton State	Head Coach	83-55
2018-2019	Dalton State	Interim Head Coach	18-13
2017-2018	Dalton State	Assistant Coach
2016-2017	UT Martin	Assistant Coach
2015-2016	Alcorn State	Assistant Coach
2013-2015	Valdosta State	Graduate Assistant
2012-2013	North Cobb Christian	Assistant Coach

Year-by-Year At Dalton State

Year	Record	Pct.	Conference	Record	Pct.	Finish
2023-2024	15-13	.536	Southern States	11-9	.550	6th
2022-2023	17-12	.586	Southern States	11-9	.550	6th
2021-2022	14-16	.467	Southern States	7-11	.389	7th
2020-2021	7-11	.389	Southern States	6-7	.462	5th
2019-2020	30-3	.909	Southern States	15-3	.833	2nd
2018-2019*	18-13	.581	Southern States	12-9	.571	5th

*Denotes season as Interim Head Coach