Tupelo native following a legend in first head coach opportunity
Jun. 8—Hayden Sowers, a Tupelo High School graduate in 2010, has been named head men's basketball coach at South Plains College.
It's a school that might ring a bell with Ole Miss fans as the junior college that produced Rebels star Marshall Henderson.
Sowers was an assistant coach at SPC, in Levelland, Texas, west of Lubbock, last season.
The head coach position opened when Steve Green, who had led the Texans for 22 seasons, pursued a Division I opportunity at Texas Tech.
"Every young coach has a dream to one day be a head coach, and I've been preparing for this moment since I was a graduate assistant at Ole Miss," Sowers told the audience at his introductory press conference.
Sowers is replacing a Texas junior college coaching legend. Green compiled a 552-152 record at South Plains. He won three national championships and was national coach of the year three times.
The Texans reached the Sweet 16 in 2022.
Sowers got his undergraduate degree at Ole Miss and was a graduate assistant on the staff of Andy Kennedy when Henderson was the flamboyant face of a veteran team that won the SEC Tournament and upset 5 seed Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament.
"South Plains College is an elite place with elite people, and we're going to try to be an extension of that with the men's basketball program," Sowers said. "We're going to pour constant amounts of time, energy and effort into these young men who choose to be a part of our program."
He believes following a coach with Green's level of success is an advantage.
"Coach Steve Green is the greatest men's junior college basketball coach of all time," Sowers said. "The success this program has had in the past allows for current and future players to realize what is possible when you buy into something bigger than yourself."
PARRISH ALFORD is the college sports editor and columnist for the Daily Journal. Contact him at parrish.alford@journalinc.com.
