The beginning of a new era at ULM began on April 11, 2004 when the Warhawks hired Orlando Early as the sixth men's basketball head coach in the program's 54-year history.

In his first season at the helm of the ULM basketball team, Early guided the Warhawks to a 10-18 overall record and helped produce all-conference performances out of Tony Hooper and Lance Brasher. In the team's final season of Southland Conference action, ULM finished 6-10 before heading to the Sun Belt Conference in the 2006-07 season.

Early, who replaced the winningest basketball coach in Southland Conference history in Mike Vining, came to ULM after spending the past four seasons as an assistant coach with the Alabama Crimson Tide. During his tenure at Alabama, the team reached the NCAA Tournament in each season, won the 2002 Southeastern Conference regular season championship and compiled a record of 88-41. The team also earned Southeastern Conference West Division championships in each of his last two seasons. Athlon magazine ranked Early third nationally on its "Top Assistant Coaches" list in its fall 2004-05 basketball issue.

"Orlando Early is a tremendous teacher of the game," Alabama head coach Mark Gottfried said. "He will get everyone excited about ULM basketball from the players to the community. He is going to be a star in our profession."

Early began his coaching career in 1993 at his alma mater, Gardner-Webb. After two seasons with the Bulldogs, he took an assistant position at Western Carolina. He was promoted from assistant to associate head coach for the Catamounts in just his second season. While at WCU, the team won the 1996 Southern Conference title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

In 1998, Early accepted an assistant coaching position with UNC-Charlotte. The 49ers advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 1999 and 2001 and to the NIT in 2000 with Early on the staff. Charlotte also won the Conference USA tournament championship in 1999 and 2001.

"Orlando Early is one of the brightest, young coaches in America," 49er head coach Bobby Lutz said. "Louisiana Monroe has made an unbelievably accurate choice to lead their program. Everything that he does on and off the court exudes professionalism. There's no doubt that Orlando Early is going to be a superstar in the world of coaching. He's the total package."

Prior to beginning his coaching career, Early was a four-year letterman at Gardner-Webb, playing point guard and led the team to the 1988 NAIA District 26 title. In 1990, Early earned a degree in Accounting from Gardner-Webb.

A native of Lebanon, Virginia, Early is married to the former Jualeah Johnson. The couple has three children, Nakita, Storm and Erica.