Below are more details from ECU Sports Information on East Carolina’s basketball team announcing the hire of an assistant coach and updates to its current staff.
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Photo credit: Michael Schwartz (ECU Sports Information)
East Carolina Men’s Basketball Head Coach Michael Schwartz has officially announced the hire of Jaylen Bond as an assistant coach as well updates to his staff with Riley Davis being named associate head coach, Jesse Higdon named director of operations/chief of staff and Michael Perry taking on the role of general manager in addition to his responsibilities as an assistant coach ahead of the 2025-26 season.
Title changes for the MBB staff are in!🏴☠️📈#GoPirates pic.twitter.com/2OWyuoEVr2
— East Carolina Men’s Basketball (@ecubasketball) July 11, 2025
Bond arrives in Greenville after serving as an assistant coach for the men’s basketball program at UAlbany where he led on-court player development and skill building for guards and forwards on the Great Danes’ roster, including mentoring forward Justin Neely to America East Sixth Man of the Year honors. Bond’s responsibilities also included assisting with scouting, leadership development and supporting recruiting efforts.
“We feel very fortunate to be able to add Jaylen Bond to our coaching staff,” Schwartz said. “He brings strong experience as a successful college and professional player as well as his time coaching at Temple and Albany. Jaylen has a great feel for people and an excellent work ethic that will make an immediate impact on our players and program.”
The Philadelphia, Pa. native was a graduate assistant at Temple from 2022-24, where he assisted in scouting, captured game film and conducted player development workouts. In 2023-24 with Bond serving as a graduate assistant, Temple became the first team in American Athletic Conference history to win four games in four days at the conference tournament resulting in the program’s first appearance in the AAC championship game.
“I’m extremely excited to join Coach Schwartz’s staff and the ECU family,” Bond said. “I’m looking forward to aiding in the development of our student-athletes on and off the court. I’m committed to giving everything I have to this program, this community and the Pirate fans.”
Prior to the start of his coaching career, Bond played overseas with multiple teams from 2017-21 including the Blackwater Bossings, Muharraq Basketball Club, Al Nasr Sports Club and The Flex Pistoia. Bond also played in the NBA G-League with the Westchester Knicks from 2016-17.
Bond played two seasons at Temple where he was an All-AAC Tournament Team selection in 2015-16 as well as the Philadelphia All-Big 5 Second Team after averaging 10.3 points and a team-high 8.5 rebounds per game. Bond was also named the first solo team captain under Fran Dunphy at Temple. He led the AAC in rebounds per game in 2014-15 and was named All-AAC Honorable Mention. Prior to his two seasons at Temple, Bond began his college career at Texas under Rick Barnes where he played 54 games and averaged 3.1 points and 4.1 rebounds in two seasons.
Bond earned both of his degrees from Temple with a Master of Science in Communication Management in 2024 and a Bachelor of Arts in Strategic Communication in 2016.
Davis enters his first season as associate head coach for the Pirates after serving as an assistant coach for the first three seasons on Schwartz’s staff. Higdon spent her first three seasons on the Pirates’ staff as the program’s director of operations before becoming director of operations/chief of staff for the upcoming season while Perry enters his second season on the Pirates’ bench and first as assistant coach/general manager.
“Our staff has been instrumental in building our program here at ECU, both on and off the court,” Schwartz said. “We have been able to establish year to year continuity as well as add great coaches over the past couple of seasons. I am extremely grateful for their loyalty and commitment to our vision here at ECU.”