A promising young coach who has played and coached at the highest levels of NCAA Division I women's basketball, Haynes has worked at schools in the ACC, SEC and Mid-American Conference, as well as playing in the Big Ten and professionally overseas.

Rene Haynes was named the 12th head coach in the 54-year history of Long Island University women's basketball in April of 2019. Haynes came to Brooklyn after spending the last five seasons as an assistant coach at Duke University.

In Haynes first year with the Sharks, she made a major impact on the Northeast Conference. The Sharks under the new leadership doubled the total wins to eight, compared to the previous 4-win season. The Sharks ranked seventh in the country in offensive rebounds per game (16.0), and 35th in the country in total rebounds per game. LIU led the NEC in rebounds and had their first All-NEC First Team performer since 2013-14 in Brandy Thomas. The Sharks also improved on the offensive end, where they held the highest scoring average by a LIU team since 2015-16. That season, Coach Haynes coached the Sharks to 14 double-double performances during the season, and four athletes tallied 10 or more games in double-digits scoring. In Coach Haynes’ first season, the Sharks advanced to the unfinished NEC tournament, which ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
After a record-setting inaugural season, the Sharks fought through an adversity driven season during an unpredictable outbreak of Covid-19. They finished with seven wins on the season and rallied to a four-game winning streak to close the season. Coach Haynes logged her first 1,000-point scorer in junior Brandy Thomas.
 
Prior to her time at LIU, Rene spent five seasons as an Assistant Coach for the Duke Blue Devils, under three time ACC coach of the year Joanne P. McCallie (Coach P). She reunited with McCallie after playing for Coach P from 2003-07 with Michigan State.
 
In her first year with the Blue Devils, Haynes helped land the No. 1 rated recruiting class in the nation with the signing of Angela Salvadores, Kyra Lambert, Crystal Primm, Haley Gorecki and Faith Suggs. She helped add McDonald's All-America Leaonna Odom in 2017 as well.

Prior to her time with the Blue Devils, she spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Western Michigan. There, Haynes assisted in recruiting, player development, equipment liaison and was the summer camps coordinator for the Broncos. She supported in all areas of recruiting, including unofficial and official visit scheduling and preparation. Haynes worked with the point guards, implementing individual and team workouts, to improve guard production.
 
After her collegiate career, Haynes played professionally overseas for Pro Build Lions in Amsterdam, Netherlands (2007-08). Her team was Netherlands Cup Champions, while averaging 18.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals per game. In 2008-09, Haynes played for the Catz of Lappeenranta, Finland, where her squad finished as League Champions (21-1 record) and tournament runner-up. In 2009-10, Haynes played for FoA in Forssa, Finland, where she was the third leading scorer in the country, averaging 20.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals.
 
During her time at Michigan State, she made the Big Ten All-Freshman team (2004). Under Coach P in 2005, her team was Big Ten Champions, Big Ten Tournament Champions and advanced to the NCAA Final Four. She was Big Ten Honorable mention in 2005 and in 2006 as the Spartans went to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen.
 
Haynes was also part of the Big Ten Foreign Tour Team in 2006, where she played with fellow Big Ten players against teams in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. As a senior, Haynes made second team All-Big Ten and All-Big Ten Defensive team (2007). Haynes capped her career ranking third at Michigan State in steals (245), 16th in scoring (1000-point club), 10th in three-point field goals made and 13th in assists. As a captain, she was a member of the winningest senior class in school history with 103 victories.
 
A Columbus, Ohio, native, Haynes attended The Wellington School for high school. Haynes tallied 2,222 points and 430 steals in her high school career. She currently holds a bachelor in political science from Michigan State University and a master's in sport management from Western Michigan University. Haynes is a 2017 inductee into the Greater Columbus Basketball Legends Hall of Fame.

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Rene lives in Brooklyn with her son Csoki & husband Chris.