Gulfport hires Steve Hesser to lead boys’ basketball program

Gulfport High School has made another splash with its latest coaching hire.

Steve Hesser joins the Admirals as the their newest head boys’ basketball coach, filling the role left vacant by new Mississippi Gulf Coast C.C. coach Owen Miller.

Hesser arrives with an impressive resume from stops in Oklahoma and Missouri where he amassed a 713-326 record between four high schools and a Division II university.

Hesser won three state championships and is a member of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

“It always struck me how hard his teams played,” Gulfport athletic director Matt Walters, who coached against Hesser when the two were in Missouri, told the Sun Herald. “When I got a chance to coach against him, and we were a good team, they were beating us by 28 points in the third quarter and I remember looking down the sideline and seeing him get on to his kids for not playing hard enough. ... He does nothing but win.”

Hesser’s last stop saw him spend 17 seasons at Drury University in Springfield, Missouri, before retiring in 2021. At Drury, Hesser set the school record for career wins with 354 and won the national championship in 2013.

Walters says Hesser has been a frequent visitor to South Mississippi over the years and jumped at the opportunity to lead a program on the Coast.

The move is the latest in a string of splashy hires at GHS, which include nabbing Blake Pennock from Ocean Springs to lead the football team and hiring Olympian gold medalist Brittney Reese to lead the track and field program.