Reni Mason Transitions from Sidelines to Full-Time Athletic Leadership at Louisiana Christian

PINEVILLE – Louisiana Christian announced on Wednesday that Reni Mason will step down from his role as head coach of the Wildcat men’s basketball team, effective immediately. Mason will continue his full-time role as the school’s vice president of intercollegiate athletics.

Assistant coach Zach Barnes will take over as interim head coach of the men’s basketball team.

Mason has led LCU men’s basketball since the 2015-16 season, where he has compiled more than 120 wins, the fourth most in program history, been to seven conference tournaments, including three conference championship appearances, coached a pair of all-Americans, and seen numerous student-athletes chosen for all-conference honors.

He has served as vice president of intercollegiate athletics since 2017, where he helped guide LCU through a reclassification process, saw multiple programs win and compete for championships and facilitated improvements in student-athlete success in the classroom, all to raise the overall profile of Wildcat athletics.

The decision to step away from his coaching duties is part of a strategic shift to focus entirely on overseeing the continued growth and success of the department.

“Simply put, it’s time — not because Coach Mason says so, but because the Lord has made it clear this season in my life has run its course,” Mason said. “I will forever be grateful for the opportunity to serve as head coach at Louisiana Christian. It was truly a privilege to be part of so many young men’s journeys.

“As I move forward, I’m excited for the opportunity to continue serving our coaches, staff, players and our President, Dr. Mark Johnson. I’m especially thankful to Dr. Johnson for allowing me to continue in my role as Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics. Claws up!”

Mason led the Wildcats to immediate success in his first season as coach with a trip to the American Southwest Conference Tournament championship game in 2015-16. Three seasons later he guided LC to a 19-7 overall record, its most wins in a season in nearly 20 years. The Wildcats’ returned to the ASC title game 2021 and reached the Red River Athletic Conference Tournament title game in 2022.

Kae’ron Baker was one of two all-Americans coached by Mason and helped lead the Wildcats to those two straight conference tournament title game appearances, while also earning RRAC Player of the Year honors in 2021-22.

“As a coach, his number one goal was to make sure that everybody in that locker room, once they left the team and the university, that they left a better young man than they were when they got there,” Baker said. “Every time that we had a team conversation, whether it was a discipline issue or something strictly about basketball, he always found a way to relate that to the real world and what it takes to be a successful young man.”

Mason’s commitment to seeing his players develop beyond just the game of basketball has been a pillar of his coaching and leadership philosophy throughout his entire career.

“He made it evident to us that sports are a representation of life,” Baker said. “In a game, if things weren’t going our way or we couldn’t see a shot fall, there are going to be issues and adversity in life that feel almost exactly what that basketball game felt like.

“So it puts you in a position where you’re going to keep pushing forward, keep showing up or are you going to give up.  I remember him saying once you give up, that’s when you actually lose. Whatever opportunity you had, you’ll never be able to get it because you gave up. So his belief in us and the program and what he wanted the program to stand for was phenomenal. And he carried that on his sleeve each and every day.”

The thread of honesty and respect that runs through his program is something that Travis Shultz, one of Mason’s first four-year players at LC, carried with him into his own coaching career.

“Of course I remember a lot of the Xs and Os and on the court stuff,” Schultz said. “But it was maybe once or twice a week he would call a meeting in the locker room, whether it was something going on or something we needed to address, and he kept it real with us. I always appreciated that. He always related it to real life and how sports translate to real life as men. That was something that I tried to do with the kids that I coached.”

Schultz won the Class B state title with Lacassine as an assistant following the 2024-25 season.

Since beginning his dual role within the athletic department, the success he has garnered as a coach has set the standard for the entire department under his guidance as vice president of intercollegiate athletics.

“One thing that I appreciated and admired, both as a player and an assistant, was how Godly and straightforward he was when it came to certain matters,” former player and graduate assistant at LC for Mason, Jameal Owusu said. “Whether it was administrative or on the court, he always kept it to the point and real. He always treated us like men and told us exactly how he wanted things done, so I always respected him for that.”

Mason helped lead the Wildcats through a reclassification back to the NAIA, after a 20-year run as a Division III school in the NCAA, where they have competed with enormous success since the 2021-22 athletic year.

LCU has won three Red River Athletic Conference soccer championships (two men, one women), a baseball title, and a football championship in four short seasons in the league. Wildcat programs have appeared in 28 different conference tournaments and eight tournament championship games over the past four seasons since joining the RRAC.