DETROIT (6/7/2016) -- University of Detroit Mercy head men's basketball coach Bacari Alexander '99 has been busy putting together his staff and today, he announced that former Titan assistant coach Mickey Barrett will join the program as the Director of Program Personnel and Operations. 

Coach Alexander also announced that Kal Riebau will stay on staff as a graduate assistant and video analyst. 

Barrett is no stranger to coach Alexander and the Titans, serving as an assistant men's basketball coach at the University from 1991-2003 before taking over the reigns as the head women's basketball coach for five seasons.  

"Mickey is a staple in the Midwest basketball community," said coach Alexander. "His understanding of all facets of a program will prove to be invaluable to us. As a former head coach and longtime veteran assistant, he will have a great understanding of how to provide mentorship throughout our program."

A veteran of over 40 years of high school and collegiate coaching, Barrett was the recipient of the 2002 AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year Award, given to only 500 coaches nationwide, from all levels of competition - college, junior college and high school - and from all sports, not just basketball. 

With the men's program, he was actively involved in the recruitment of future talent, on-the-floor coaching, scouting of upcoming opponents and helping to monitor the basketball team's academic progress. 

During his time as an assistant at Detroit Mercy, he worked under two great head coaches in Ricky Byrdsong (1991-1993) and Perry Watson (1993-2003), helping the Titans soar to new heights winning three conference championships (1994, 1998, 1999), earning two bids to the NCAA Tournament (1998, 1999) and the NIT (2001, 2002), and tying the school wins record with 25 victories on three occasions (1998, 1999, 2001).

With coach Alexander and assistant coach Jermaine Jackson '99 in the starting line-up in 1997-98, the Titans shared the regular season crown and would go on to beat St. John's in the NCAA Tournament, the school's first NCAA tournament triumph since 1977. The following year with both Titans back, Detroit Mercy captured the regular season and conference tournament banners and would go on to shock 15th ranked UCLA in the NCAA Tournament.  

With all-time leading scorer Rashad Phillips and future 12-year NBA player Willie Green in the starting lineup, the Titans made a historic run to Madison Square Garden and the NIT Final Four in 2000-01 as the red, white and blue went on the road to knock off Bradley, Connecticut and Dayton to advance to "The World's Most Famous Arena".

He was the head women's basketball coach at Detroit Mercy from 2003-2007. In his first season, the red, white and blue finished with a 15-14 overall record and a 10-6 mark in conference play advancing to the Horizon League championship game. Detroit Mercy held opponents to a conference-low 55.9 points per game, a total which represented the 12th-best total in NCAA Division I. 

The Titans would go on to earn a spot on the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's Academic Top-25 Honor Roll with a 3.308 GPA, tops in the Horizon League and the 15th-highest mark in the nation. 

Barrett also spent time in high school administration as the Athletic Director at University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy from 2008-10 and has been a consultant at Marfrank LLC for the last five years.

Riebau joined the men's basketball program as a graduate assistant in the summer of 2015 and will serve as the video analyst for the 2016-17 season as he finishes his master's in Education, Administration and Leadership. 

"Kal is a rising star in our profession," said coach Alexander. "Having learned early in his career from one of the nation's best in coach Buzz Williams only gives us yet another relentless worker. His analytical skills and basketball IQ are impressive to witness, and he is well respected amongst our staff and players and has earned this well-deserved promotion."

He spent last season working with the Titans in the areas of scout and game preparation, academics and overall office management. 

Riebau got his start in collegiate coaching as the head student manager for the Marquette men's basketball program under then-head coach Buzz Williams. He assisted in all facets of the Golden Eagles program as his alma mater, which made two-straight Sweet 16 appearances as well as reaching the Elite Eight in 2013.

He has been a member of the support staff for USA Basketball at their U-17 men's developmental team training camp, the Nike Hoop Summit and the women's senior national team mini-camp as well as a year working for Impact Basketball in Las Vegas, Nevada.

He earned a bachelor's degree in Marketing from Marquette in 2014.