Returning for his third year on the bench this season is assistant coach Justin Ashley.

Ashley, a native of Clovis, N.M., joined WTAMU before the 2005-06 season and helped guide the Buffs to a 23-8 overall record on their way to claiming the Lone Star Conference Championship in addition to play a pivotal part in last season's repeat appearance in the regional tournament.

Prior to making the move to Canyon, Ashley served as a graduate assistant at Lone Star Conference foe Northeastern State University, where he worked for two years under head coach Larry Gipson, earning his master's degree in college teaching with an emphasis in health and human performance.

Prior to NSU, Ashley was an assistant coach at Panola Junior College in Carthage, Texas. Ashley earned his bachelor's degree in Spanish education from New Mexico State University in 2002, where he was administrative assistant coach for legendary head coach Lou Henson's staff. He was a New Mexico All-State performer in basketball at Grady High School.

Ashley's duties include recruiting, as well as scouting, practice planning, film break down, and on-floor coaching, dealing primarily with the perimeter players, as well as supervision of the offseason conditioning program.

"We're very excited to have Justin join our staff," Cooper said when Ashley joined the staff prior to the 2005-06 season. "By coming from Northeastern, he has a great deal of experience with the Lone Star Conference and the competitiveness of basketball in the league. He has a sound coaching background, with a strong emphasis on defense, learning from Larry Gipson at Northeastern and Lou Henson at New Mexico State, and I'm anxious for him to share that knowledge and educate our players. Justin is a local native, with a lot of ties in this region, that will be tremendous assets in recruiting. We are delighted to have him as a part of Buffalo Basketball."