Attitude and Effort.

They are more than words on a wall or slogans on a t-shirt. Inside the Louisiana Tech men's basketball program, they are a mindset -- a daily standard.

For head coach Talvin Hester, who just completed his fourth year at the helm of the Bulldogs, these two pillars are not just motivational fluff. In a game full of variables, he believes attitude and effort are the two things you can always bring -- and always control.

Emphasizing attitude and effort continued to pay dividends in 2025-26 as Hester, the 19th head coach in program history, guided the Bulldogs to their third straight 20-win season, finishing 20-14 overall while advancing to the Conference USA Tournament championship game for the first time since 2022 and just the third time in program history. LA Tech earned postseason tournament wins over Middle Tennessee and Missouri State to reach the title game while tying for third in the league standings with an 11-9 conference record.

With the achievement, Hester became just the fourth head coach in Louisiana Tech history to post three consecutive 20-win seasons and is now tied for the third most 20-win campaigns by a head coach in program history.

The Bulldogs once again established themselves as one of the nation’s premier defensive teams, ranking in the top 10 nationally in both scoring defense (65.0) and field goal percentage defense (39.3). LA Tech also posted a dominant 14-3 record at home, including a perfect 7-0 mark against non-conference opponents inside the Thomas Assembly Center.

Among the season’s signature moments was a dramatic 59-58 comeback victory over Middle Tennessee in Ruston after trailing by 20 points, marking the program’s second-largest comeback win in the last 50 years. The Bulldogs also stunned CUSA regular season champion Liberty on the road in Lynchburg with a 76-71 victory, handing the Flames just their second home loss of the season. LA Tech capped the regular season in emphatic fashion with an 81-38 victory at Delaware, the largest road win in recorded program history.

Hester orchestrated a 20-win campaign in 2024-25 with three all-conference selections, highlighted by Daniel Batcho who was named CUSA Defensive Player of the Year. Batcho ranked 27th nationally with 64 blocks, anchoring a team identity built around attitude and effort. 

The Bulldogs opened the year with a scorching 7-0 start -- the program’s best since the 1984-85 season -- and went on to capture the Gulf Coast Showcase championship, earning victories over Southern Illinois, Richmond, and Eastern Kentucky. The team also tallied a signature non-conference win against WAC Tournament champion Grand Canyon in the WAC/CUSA Challenge.

Under Hester’s leadership, the Bulldogs set a program record for single-season free throw percentage, shooting 75.0 percent from the line and surpassing a mark that had stood since the 1976-77 season. The squad continued to hang their hat on defense, finishing top 50 in the nation in both field goal percentage defense (41.3) and three-point field goal percentage defense (30.9). 

Hester was named NABC District 11 Coach of the Year and a Ben Jobe Award finalist after guiding 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 registered a 12-4 CUSA record, finishing second in the league. The Bulldogs went 8-7 in road games, including a 6-2 mark in league contests away from home which was the best winning percentage in such games since 2013. 

They ranked as the top CUSA team in both NET rankings and KenPom while sporting one of the best defenses in the country. The Bulldogs ranked seventh in the nation 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 third most in the country. They also ranked 16th in the nation 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 Batcho who was selected as the CUSA Newcomer of the Year. Crawford, who is now with the Houston Rockets organization in his second season in the NBA, and Batcho were joined by Tahlik Chavez and Sean Newman Jr. as All-CUSA honorees, the most in program history since 1985. 

Hester led LA Tech to a 15-win season in his first season as head coach, picking up his first ever victory in the season opener against Mississippi College as well as claiming the title of the Samford MTE with wins over Alabama A&M, Tennessee-Southern, and host Samford.

Hester brought 20 years of coaching experience back to Ruston, a place he spent three seasons (2018-21) as an assistant coach with the Bulldogs. He departed for Texas Tech, spending one season as an assistant coach where he helped the third-seeded Red Raiders reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
 
While in Lubbock, he worked under Associated Press Big 12 Coach of the Year Mark Adams. Texas Tech put together a 27-win season including victories over Montana State and Notre Dame to help the program make its fifth Sweet 16 appearance in program history. 
 
TTU, which had five All-Big 12 selections, was ranked as high as No. 9 in the country and reached the Big 12 championship final for just the second time in program history. The Red Raiders had the No. 1 ranked defense in the country (per Kenpom.com) while limiting opponents to only 60.2 points per game, holding teams to 38.2 percent shooting and forcing 15.9 turnovers per contest.
 
During his three successful years at LA Tech under Eric Konkol, Hester helped the Bulldogs register three winning seasons of 20-plus victories.  The 2020-21 season saw the ‘Dogs register a 24-8 overall record while claiming a CUSA West Division title and a third place finish in the National Invitation Tournament.  The team received an at-large berth to play in the NIT for the first time since 2015 and became just the second team in program history to make the Final Four. 
 
LA Tech, which had the highest-rated defense in CUSA ranking top 30 in the country in field goal percentage defense and three-point field goal percentage defense, upset Ole Miss in the first round, defeated league foe WKU in the quarterfinals and won a 76-74 thriller over No. 1 overall seed Colorado State in the Final Four consolation game.

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 CUSA 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 CUSA team and of any Louisiana Division I team.  The Bulldogs also recorded a 13-5 league record, finishing in a tie for second place.

In his first year with the 'Dogs, 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. 
 
Along with the four Bulldogs who earned All-CUSA honors in 2023-24, Hester has also coached All-CUSA selections DaQuan Bracey (First Team), Kenneth Lofton Jr. (Third Team and CUSA Freshman of the Year), Cobe Williams (Honorable Mention), and Keaston Willis (Honorable Mention) as well as Jordan Crawford who was chosen to the CUSA All-Freshman Team for the 2022-23 season. Lofton earned NBA G League Rookie of the Year honors in 2023, spending two seasons in the NBA with the Memphis Grizzlies, Philadelphia 76ers, and the Utah Jazz before heading to China where he was named Best International Player for the Shanghai Sharks.
 
Along with stops at Texas Tech and LA Tech, Hester spent the majority of his coaching career in the south, especially in the Lone Star State.  He spent time at Oral Roberts, Houston, Texas State, Stephen F. Austin, San Jose State, Prairie View A&M, Texas College, Texas Wesleyan and North Lake College during his career.
 
Hester coached at Oral Roberts (2017-18) with head coach Paul Mills where Hester was instrumental in the recruitment of Kevin Obanor who would help lead the team to the 2021 Sweet 16.

He also worked for Kelvin Sampson at Houston from 2014-17, helping turnaround the Cougars program which reached the 2020 Final Four.  In his first season at UH, the Cougars recorded a nine-win improvement from the previous season, earning 22 victories for the first time in eight years.  The Cougars finished second in the American Athletic Conference and earned an NIT appearance, which was their first postseason action since 2013.
 
In his second season as an UH assistant, the program boasted 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 spent one season 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 and claimed the Southland Conference regular season title.

His first coaching experience outside the Lone Star State came at San Jose State from 2010-12.  In his first year with the Spartans, they earned the program’s first postseason bid since 1996 (CBI) and a 17-16, the most wins since the 1980-81 season.

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

Hester began his coaching career in 2002 at North Lake College in Irving, Texas before he spent one year at his alma mater Texas Wesleyan and one at Texas College.  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 played at Dallas Christian College during the 1996-97 season.  He received his bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies from Texas Wesleyan in 2003.

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

CAREER YEAR	TEAM	POSITION	POSTSEASON
2002-03	Northlake College	Assistant Coach
2003	Texas Rim Rockers (USBL)	Assistant Coach
2003-04	Texas Wesleyan	Assistant Coach
2004-05	Texas College	Assistant Coach
2005-10	Prairie View A&M	Assistant Coach
2010-12	San Jose State	Assistant Coach	CBI
2012-13	Stephen F. Austin	Assistant Coach	NIT
2013-14	Texas State	Assistant Coach
2014-17	Houston	Assistant Coach	NIT (twice), NCAA 2nd Round
2017-18	Oral Roberts	Assistant Coach
2018-21	Louisiana Tech	Assistant Coach	NIT Final Four
2021-22	Texas Tech	Assistant Coach	NCAA Sweet 16
2022-present	Louisiana Tech	Head Coach