Connors Athletic Department announces Cody Hastings next Mens Coach

Connors State Hires Cody Hastings as next Head Mens Basketball coach. Following the retirement of Hall of Fame coach Bill Muse Sr. Connors state taps Cody as next chapter for the Cowboys basketball. Cody comes from Arkansas Mid South where he established a championship culture and program. 

In Cody Hastings third year as head coach and seventh overall at ASU Mid-South, he would lead the Greyhounds back to the National Tournament for the first time since the 2022-23 season. The Greyhounds ended with a 27-8 record securing the Region 2 Regular Season Championship and Region 2 Tournament Championship. ASU Mid-South would then go on to defeat North Central Missouri to claim the Central Plains District Championship and a berth in the National Tournament. Hastings would receive Region 2 Coach of the Year as well as Central Plains District Coach of the Year. Phillip Tillman would take home Region 2 MVP and was named NJCAA First Team All-American as well as NABC First Team All-American. Jaxson Yancy and Hugh McFarland would receive 2^nd Team All-Region Honors. The 2025-26 season had the highest overall team GPA for Men's Basketball with a 3.3 team GPA with all 7 sophomores graduating and moving on to 4-year universities. Multiple players named to the All-Academic teams.  The Greyhounds improved their win total in Hastings' second year as they finished 18-13 clinching the #2 seed in the Region Tournament. Freshman Jaxson Yancy and Jermaine Christopher both earned All-Region honors in 2024-25. Samuel Chapin was also the first person in school history to be named to the NJCAA All-Academic team both years at ASU Mid-South. Two other Greyhounds were named to the NJCAA All-Academic Team. During his first season, Hastings led the Greyhounds to an 17-15 record before losing to eventual National Champion, National Park College in the Regional Semi-Finals. The Greyhounds had two players nominated for All-Region Awards in Jesse Washington and Je'Marion Westbrook, where Washington became the 2nd ever Greyhound to score over 1,000 points in his ASU Mid-South career.

Hastings took over the most successful NJCAA program in the state of Arkansas once former head coach Chris Parker resigned. During his first three years, he had served as assistant coach for both the Greyhound men's and women's basketball programs, going full-time with the men's program in 2022-23 and helping the Greyhounds to their fifth Region Championship in the last seven years, the Region Tournament Championship, the Central Plains District Championship and the program's second NJCAA National Tournament where they finished eighth in the nation after garnering a 14-seed. Hastings has assisted both nationally-ranked programs win championships, including an incredible turnaround of the women's program capped by a 25-2 record and a seventh-place finish at the NJCAA National Tournament in 2020-21.

He also served as Assistant Athletics Director in charge of marketing for the athletic programs. Prior to his arrival in West Memphis, Hastings served as Graduate Assistant Coach at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas, while earning his Masters of Business Administration degree.

Him and his fiancé, Chelsea are set to be married in July. They also have a 6 year old daughter, Cali. 

Before beginning his coaching career, the Stockdale, Texas, native lettered two seasons at Howard Payne University under Head Men's Basketball Coach Troy Drummond. Prior to that he played two years at San Antonio College in Texas, serving as team captain both years. Hastings was a three-sport letterman at Stockdale High School, earning All-District honors in football, basketball, and baseball. In basketball, he was named First Team All-District as a junior and senior as one of the top 50 scorers in the San Antonio area.

 Statement about Connors State:

"I am more than honored and excited to be the new Men's Basketball coach at Connors State. I want to thank everyone throughout the process as they always made me feel like I was already at home. I could feel the joy and passion that everyone has for Connors. My family and I are ready to join the Cowboy family and can't wait to meet everyone. Our plan is to uphold the winning tradition that has been held here for a long time. Of course, we want to win on the floor, but we want to make sure we are setting our student athletes up for success after here. We'll continue to have high academic expectations and continue our successful graduation rate of 100%. We want to develop these young men and prepare them for life after basketball. Getting out in the community is something that I want us to be really big and involved with. Being able to help out local businesses, schools, whatever that may be to show our young men that helping other people goes a long way. Go Cowboys!"