-
Pete ThamelESPN
Louisiana Tech is expected to hire Texas Tech assistant coach Talvin Hester as the school’s next men’s basketball coach, sources told ESPN. The hire is expected to be completed on Monday, per sources.
Hester is a familiar face in Ruston. He spent three years there as an assistant under the coach he’s replacing, Eric Konkol, from 2018 to 2021. Konkol took the head-coaching job at Tulsa after going 153-75 in his seven seasons with the Bulldogs.
Hester brings a familiarity with much of the Louisiana Tech roster. He has only been gone for one year, and played a role in recruiting and coaching many of the Tech players.
He’s also well-known in the Southwest footprint, and there’s a distinct theme of Hester’s programs winning games because of his work at each one. In his lone season working for Mark Adams at Texas Tech, the Red Raiders earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament, reached the Sweet 16 and went 27-10.
Along with helping Konkol at Louisiana Tech, Hester worked as an assistant coach at stops that have included Oral Roberts, Houston, Texas State, Stephen F. Austin and Prairie View A&M. While at Oral Roberts, Hester played a key role in recruiting Kevin Obanor, who was a key cog in the Golden Eagles’ Sweet 16 run in 2021. Obanor then transferred to Texas Tech this season and averaged 12.3 points per game.
Hester’s time at Houston was spent working under Kelvin Sampson from 2014 to 2017, where he helped build the foundation for that program’s distinct turnaround.
Hester is second hire in a revenue sport for Louisiana Tech athletic director Eric Wood in the past four months. Wood hired Sonny Cumbie as the new football coach to replace Skip Holtz in late November.