RUSTON – Louisiana Tech Men's Basketball head coach Talvin Hester was named as the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) 2023-24 District 11 Coach of the Year.
 
Hester guided LA Tech to a 22-10 overall record in his second season at the helm, a 7-win improvement from year one with the Bulldogs.
 
LA Tech recorded a 12-4 CUSA record, finishing second in the league.  The Bulldogs, who went 8-7 in road games, were 6-2 in league contests away from home which was the best winning percentage in 11 years.
 
They ranked as the top CUSA in both NET rankings (99) and KenPom (95) while sporting one of the best defenses in the country.  The Bulldogs ranked seventh in field goal percentage defense, allowing teams to shoot just 39.1 percent (lowest in program history since the 1957-58 season). 
 
LA Tech held 20 teams under 40 percent shooting this season, tied for the second most in the nation.  They also ranked 16th in the country in scoring defense, holding their opponents to 64.5 points per game.
 
Among the players Hester helped develop were Isaiah Crawford who was voted CUSA Player of the Year and CUSA Defensive Player of the Year as well as Daniel Batcho who was selected as the CUSA Newcomer of the Year.  Both Bulldogs were named NABC First Team All-District.
 
Crawford averaged a team-high 16.3 points per game while shooting 48.5 percent from the field and 41.4 percent from three-point range.  He registered double-digit points in 27 of his 32 games including nine games of 20+ points, highlighted by a career-high 30 at Jacksonville State.
 
The forward registered five double-doubles while averaging 6.2 rebounds per game.  He also totaled a team-high 68 steals (4th-most in program history) and 55 blocks, becoming just the third player in CUSA history with 60+ steals and 50+ blocks in a single season.
 
Batcho made an instant impact in his first year at LA Tech, averaging 15.2 points and a team-high 9.8 rebounds per game.  He tallied a CUSA-best 11 double-doubles, posting a season-high 24 points in two games against Seattle U and Middle Tennessee.
 
The forward also recorded a league-best 67 blocks (11th-most in program history) with his average of 2.39 rejections per game ranking top 10 in the country.    
 
Hester becomes the fourth LA Tech head coach in program history to be named NABC District Coach of the Year.  This was also the first time ever that two Bulldogs were selected NABC First Team All-District in the same season.
 
Everyone honored was voted on by member coaches of the NABC, an organization that honors the nation's best men's collegiate basketball student-athletes and coaches from 24 districts.
 
The NABC was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, the legendary basketball coach at the University of Kansas.  It currently has nearly 5,000 members consisting primarily of university and college men's basketball coaches.
 
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NABC District 11
First Team
Daniel Batcho, Louisiana Tech
Isaiah Crawford, Louisiana Tech
Don McHenry, WKU
Kyle Rode, Liberty
KyKy Tandy, Jacksonville State
 
Second Team
Davon Barnes, Sam Houston
Zack Cleveland, Liberty
Tae Hardy, UTEP
Jestin Porter, Middle Tennessee
Lamar Wilkerson, Sam Houston
 
Coach of the Year
Talvin Hester, Louisiana Tech