Shanon Hays (born February 12, 1968) is an American

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

coach for the

Grand Canyon Antelopes The Grand Canyon Antelopes (more commonly referred to as the Lopes) are the 21 athletic teams representing Grand Canyon University, located in Phoenix, Arizona. Most of the university's athletic teams compete at the NCAA Division I level in the ...

. Previously, he was the head coach at

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas ...

and remains the winningest coach in program history. He also has held several positions as a men's basketball coach and an athletic director.

Early years

Hays played college baseball and basketball at

Lubbock Christian University Lubbock Christian University (LCU) is a private Christian university associated with the Churches of Christ and located in Lubbock, Texas. Chartered originally as part of a grade school called Lubbock Christian School in 1954, the institution ...

where he lettered in both sports in 1987. He transferred to Texas Tech where he played under his father

Larry Hays Larry Hays is a US college baseball, basketball, women's basketball, and softball coach. Hewas the head baseball coach at Lubbock Christian University (LCU) (1971–1986) and Texas Tech University (1987–2008). He was the head coach of the LCU Cha ...

Coaching career

Hays began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Texas Tech in 1991-92. He then held a pair of high school head coaching positions, first at

Sundown High School Sundown High School is a public high school located in Sundown, Texas (USA) and classified as a 2A school by the UIL. It is part of the Sundown Independent School District located in southern Hockley County. The school is widely recognized for ...

in 1992-93 for boys basketball, then at Lubbock Christian High School in 1993-94 and 1994–95, leading both the baseball and boys basketball programs. At Lubbock Christian, he went 50-15 as the basketball coach and led the program to the private school state championship game. He led the baseball program to two state tournament appearances and played in the state championship game in his second season.

Basketball

Hays spent one season as the head coach at

Frank Phillips College Frank Phillips College is a public community college in Borger, Texas. The college also manages the Allen Campus in Perryton in Ochiltree County, the Dalhart Center in Hartley County, and the Cosmetology Center in Hereford Hereford () ...

in the 1995-96 season. He inherited a 4-25 team and went 19-10 in his one season, earning

Western Junior College Athletic Conference The Western Junior College Athletic Conference (WJCAC) is a junior college athletic conference for many technical and community colleges within the Southwest states of Texas and New Mexico, sponsored by the National Junior College Athletic Associa ...

Coach of the Year honors. Hays took the reins of the

Abilene Christian Wildcats men's basketball The Abilene Christian Wildcats men's basketball team represents Abilene Christian University (ACU) in Abilene, Texas, United States. The Wildcats joined the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) on July 1, 2021, after having spent the previous eight ...

program in 1996-97 and led the Wildcats for three seasons. He went 58-26 leading the program.

Chris Beard Christopher Michael Beard (born February 18, 1973) is an American basketball coach who was most recently the head coach at the University of Texas at Austin for the men's team. He previously coached at Texas Tech, Little Rock, Angelo State, and ...

was an assistant on his staff in his first season at Abilene Christian. He left Abilene Christian in 1999 to join

James Dickey James Lafayette Dickey (February 2, 1923 January 19, 1997) was an American poet and novelist. He was appointed the eighteenth United States Poet Laureate in 1966. He also received the Order of the South award. Dickey is best known for his ...

coaching staff for two seasons. He was not retained when Texas Tech hired

Bob Knight Robert Montgomery Knight (born October 25, 1940) is an American former basketball coach. Nicknamed "the General", Knight won 902 NCAA Division I men's college basketball games, a record at the time of his retirement, and currently fourth all-ti ...

in 2001. After briefly leaving the coaching world for a career in pharmaceutical sales and then an athletic director post, Hays took over as the head coach of

Midland College Midland College (MC) is a public community college in Midland, Texas. It was established as an independent junior college in 1972 and held its first classes on campus in 1975. Since that time, the campus has expanded to a main campus on in Mi ...

on April 16, 2003. He went 27-7 in his one season. Hays returned to the Division I ranks as an assistant coach at

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

, hired by

Tom Penders Thomas Vincent Penders (born May 23, 1945) is an American retired college basketball coach, who last coached from 2004 through 2010 at the University of Houston. He is from Stratford, Connecticut and has a 649–437 career record. As a college ath ...

. He spent two seasons with the program in what would be his last position in men's basketball.

Softball

Hays' first opportunity in the softball coaching ranks came in 2006 where he started the softball program at

. He was named the head coach on October 24, 2006. In the program's inaugural season in 2008, they went 58-9-2 and claimed an NAIA National Championship.

named Hays its seventh softball head coach on June 8, 2009. He guided the Red Raiders for five seasons and remains the school's winningest coach. He resigned on May 13, 2014. Hays took over as the head coach at

Colorado Christian University Colorado Christian University (CCU) is a private Christian university in Lakewood, Colorado. CCU was founded by Clifton Fowler in 1914 as the Denver Bible Institute. History CCU's heritage dates back to the formation of Denver Bible Institute i ...

on December 1, 2016, and spent three years leading the program. He was named the head coach at

Oklahoma Christian University Oklahoma Christian University (OC) is a private Christian university in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It was founded in 1950 by members of the Churches of Christ. History Oklahoma Christian University, originally named Central Christian College ...

in 2018 and guided the Eagles for three seasons. Hays was named the head coach at Grand Canyon on June 11, 2021. He wasted no time reviving the Lopes program, posting a 39-16 overall record, winning the WAC's regular-season and tournament championships, and leading the program to its first appearance in the

NCAA Division I softball tournament The NCAA Division I softball tournament is held annually in May/June and features 64 college softball teams in the United States, culminating in the Women's College World Series (WCWS), which is played in Oklahoma City. Tournament play and team s ...

Athletic administration

At age 34, Hays became the athletic director at

Abilene Christian University Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a private Christian university in Abilene, Texas. It was founded in 1906 as ''Childers Classical Institute''. ACU is one of the largest private universities in the Southwestern United States and has one of t ...

on June 1, 2002. After less than a year in the post, he resigned, citing that "coaching is in my blood, and it's been hard to be away from it."

Softball head coaching record

The following table lists Hays' softball head coaching record at the NCAA level.

References

External links

Grand Canyon profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hays, Shanon 1968 births Living people Female sports coaches American softball coaches Texas Tech Red Raiders baseball players Texas Tech Red Raiders softball coaches