Winston Hines enters his fourth season as a member of the Louisiana Tech men's basketball coaching staff, serving as assistant coach.
The 17-year coaching veteran has helped LA Tech to back-to-back 20-win seasons. The latest campaign 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.
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).
Three Bulldogs would earn All-CUSA honors, highlighted by Daniel Batcho who was named CUSA Defensive Player of the Year.
In Hines' second season with LA Tech, the team put together a 22-10 overall record and 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 Hines 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 and Batcho were joined by Tahlik Chavez and Sean Newman Jr. as All-Conference honorees, the most in program history since 1985.
In his first season as an assistant coach in 2022-23, Hines helped LA Tech to 15 wins, a year that included victories over Alabama A&M, Tennessee-Southern, and host Samford as part of the Samford MTE. Three Bulldogs ended up garnering postseason awards, including Isaiah Crawford who earned Third Team All-Conference USA honors, Keaston Willis who was voted All-Conference USA Honorable Mention, and Jordan Crawford who was selected to the C-USA All-Freshman Team.
Hines spent the previous five seasons as an assistant coach down the road at Grambling State. While with the Tigers, Hines helped the program to four top-four finishes in the Southwestern Athletic Conference including their first SWAC regular season title in 30 years.
In his first season at GSU in 2017-18, he helped engineer a rebirth for the Tigers program as they recorded a 17-14 overall record and a 13-5 mark in SWAC play to deliver an outright SWAC title.
The following season, the Tigers made more history by appearing on the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, their first postseason appearance since 1980. The 2019-20 season mark the third straight year of reaching 17 victories with 11 of those wins coming in conference against SWAC opponents.
Hines helped in the development of Ivy Smith who was selected as a BOXTOROW HBCU All-American. Smith was also a two-time All-SWAC honoree and an NABC First Team All-District selection.
Prior to coaching in Grambling, Hines spent one season as the associate head coach for the women's basketball program at Stillman College during the 2016-17 season. In his lone season with the Lady Tigers, the team compiled a 19-4 record after totaling just 24 wins in the previous three seasons combined.
This opportunity came after spending eight seasons with the men’s program at Stillman College as an assistant coach where he helped the Tigers receive their first ever Top 25 ranking in the NCAA Division II polls.
During the 2010-11 season, the program produced a record of 24-8 and advanced to the 2011 NCAA South Regional Championship game. His last season with the program was the best as the Tigers registered a 27-6 overall record and a 20-1 league mark in route to claiming the 2016 SIAC regular season and tournament title while also advancing to the second round of the NCAA national tournament.
While at Stillman College, he helped coach several all-conference players including Rodnerius Lewis who was SIAC Player of the Year and a BOXTOROW HBCU All-American.
Hines graduated from Stillman with Honors in 2008 with a degree in Health and Physical Education. He was a vital piece on the 2005-06 team that won the first SIAC Tournament championship in school history.
Prior to Stillman, he played one season at Pensacola Junior College, where he received his Associates Degree in General Studies. He prepped at Woodham High School in Pensacola where he was a four-year starter on the varsity team.
Hines has two sons, Dontreal and DeKaylen.
