Hester Joins Men’s Basketball Staff As Assistant Coach

Hester Joins Men’s Basketball Staff As Assistant Coach

Arlington, Texas native brings 19 years of coaching experience to the program

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Colorado State men’s basketball has added Talvin Hester as an assistant coach, head coach Niko Medved announced today.

“We are thrilled to add Talvin to our staff,” Medved said. “He adds tremendous experience and has worked with a lot of winning programs. He is the entire package as a coach, connector and recruiter, and is a terrific person. We welcome Talvin to the Ram family along with his wife Jamieka and daughter Rhyan.”

“I’m excited to be moving to Fort Collins and be part of the Ram family,” Hester said. “I am thankful to Coach Medved for believing in me and I am ready to get there and start winning championships.”

Hester has a long-proven track record in coaching, having spent the last three years at Louisiana Tech as an assistant. This past year, the Bulldogs posted a 24-8 overall record, 12-4 in Conference USA to win the West division and finished third in the National Invitation Tournament, defeating the Rams on a last-second shot. The 24 wins marked the second time in a row that Louisiana Tech had posted the most victories of any C-USA squad. He helped coach Kenneth Lofton, Jr., the C-USA Freshman of the Year and a Third-Team All-C-USA selection as well as Isaiah Crawford, also a third-team honoree, and Cobe Williams, an all-defensive team pick.

In his second season in 2019-20, the Bulldogs registered a 22-8 overall record during the regular slate, but the team did not have a chance at postseason play with the Conference USA and NCAA/NIT Tournaments being canceled due to the public health threat of COVID-19. The 22 wins ended up being the most victories of any Conference USA team and of any Louisiana Division I team.  The Bulldogs also recorded a 13-5 league record, finishing in a tie for second place.

Louisiana Tech, who had the highest NET ranking and highest KenPom ranking of any C-USA squad in 2019-20, had several marquee wins.  The biggest one in non-conference came against Mississippi State in Starkville as the 74-67 victory ended their SEC-leading 26-game non-conference winning streak.  The biggest one in league play came at North Texas, winning 73-71 to hand the C-USA regular season champions their only conference home loss. Hester helped coach point guard DaQuan Bracey who ended up being a First Team All-Conference USA selection.

In his first year with the Bulldogs, Hester helped the team to 20 victories.  Eight of the 20 victories came against teams who also produced 20-win seasons, the most in program history.  One of those came in the season opener at Wichita State as the Bulldogs shocked the Shockers, handing them only their fourth loss in their last 76 games at home.

Hester has extensive experience at a variety of levels, having spent 19 years coaching with eight different organizations at the collegiate and pro levels, including two years as an assistant in the Mountain West at San Jose State.

While at Oral Roberts for the 2017-18 season, Hester joined new head coach Paul Mills to help the Golden Eagles finish in a tie for fifth in the Summit League, improving two spots from the preseason poll. ORU ending up having four players earn postseason honors, including a pair of specialty awards for each of the two seniors on the squad — Austin Ruder was named the league’s Transfer of the Year while Albert Owens was tabbed as the Sixth Man of the Year.

Prior to coaching the Golden Eagles, Hester joined new head Kelvin Sampson at Houston where he spent three seasons helping turnaround the Cougars program. UH ended up having a nine-win improvement from the 2014-15 to the 2015-16 season, posting 22 victories for the first time in eight years, while finishing second in the American Athletic Conference and earning an NIT appearance which was their first postseason action since 2013.

The Cougars followed that up with a 21-win season in 2016-17, a third place finish in the AAC and another trip to the NIT. While at Houston, Hester coached four All-AAC selections including Rob Gray and Damyean Dotson who became the first duo in the program’s history to be selected first team in the same season since 1990. Hester also assisted in the Cougars’ off-court work, serving Thanksgiving meals to Star of Hope Mission residents and leading a Texas Special Olympics event.

Hester spent one season apiece as an assistant coach at Texas State (2013-14) and Stephen F. Austin (2012-13). While with the Lumberjacks, the team posted a 27-5 overall record, claimed the Southland Conference regular season title and earned a berth into the NIT.

He spent two seasons as an assistant at San Jose State from 2010-12. In his first year with the Spartans, they earned the first postseason bid for SJSU since 1996 (CBI) and a 17-16 record with the 17 wins being the most since the 1980-81 season.

Prior to heading to California, he spent five seasons at Prairie View A&M (2005-10) where he was eventually promoted to the position of associate head coach. He helped the Panthers to winning records in both the 2008-09 and 2009-10 season, the first time registering back-to-back winning seasons in decades.

Hester broke into coaching in 2002 at North Lake College in Irving, Texas. He also spent one year at his alma mater Texas Wesleyan. His coaching resume also includes a stop with the Texas Rim Rockers of the United States Basketball League as an assistant coaching intern and the Dallas Mustangs AAU team for one season. He was an assistant coach at Texas College in Tyler, Texas for the 2004-05 season before going to Prairie View A&M.

As a student-athlete, Hester competed at Dallas Christian College during the 1996-97 season. He received his bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies from Texas Wesleyan in 2003.

He is married to the former Jamieka Jackson and they are the parents of a daughter, Rhyan.

– CSURams.com –

540.476.1259 (C) | john.a.martin@colostate.edu

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540.476.1259 (C) | john.a.martin@colostate.edu

CSURams.com | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Instagram