As the 2016 NCAA tournament approached no-one could have seen this coming. Maybe not even Kevin Hogan himself.
The former Rollins College star, who is now an assistant coach at Austin Peay, had a Governors team that went into the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament with a 14-17 record as the #8 seed. To advance to the NCAA tournament they would have to win four games in four days. That was a long shot at best!
But during the next four days something special happened. The Governors who were 7-9 in conference play and finished fourth in the OVC West division went on a magical run. They won the tournament and secured a spot in the NCAA regional where they would face national power and top seed Kansas.
Hogan had this to say about the run:
" It was amazing basketball for the past four days. We had our moments that we needed to clean up but in the end we did just enough to punch that ticket."
In the opening game Austin Peay cruised to a 92-72 victory over Tennessee Tech. In a hard-fought battle in game two they slipped past Tennessee State 74-72. In the third game, in the biggest upset of the tournament and one of the biggest upsets of the year in the college hoops the Governors outlasted top seed Belmont 97-96 in overtime on the Bruins home floor. The Governors were not done yet though. They had one last hurdle to cross in the form of #2 seed Tennessee Martin in the finals. The Governors cruised to a 83-73 victory and set up the showdown with the Jayhawks.
Hogan had this to say about winning the OVC tournament title:
" I was so proud of how hard our team fought and all the adversity that they went thru the whole season. It was a heck of an accomplishment for this group to make it to the NCAA tournament. It tells you a lot about the grit and determination of this team."
This was the highlight of Hogan's brief coaching career and something he can build on in the future.
Hogan started his coaching career as a volunteer at Florida A&M in 2009. He would be there until 2011. After that he would move on to Tallahassee Community College. In Hogan's first season they would go 15-13. In 2012 Hogan would move on to Austin Peay where he would become the Director of Basketball Operations. In the 2012-13 season Hogan would see the Governors more than double the squad's win total from the previous season. They went from six wins to 13 in the 2012-13 season. In the 2013-14 season the Governors would reach the 20 win plateau. After a 10-6 record in conference play the Governors would reach the conference title game for the third time in school history in 2014.
Hogan was born with basketball in his blood. Much of that can be attributed to his dad Don who was a graduate of South Alabama in 1980, and was in coaching for 30+years. Don Hogan resigned from coaching in August 2015 to pursue a job as the Director of Athletics for the Lake Country School District in Florida. He resigned after six years of being associate head coach at Coastal Carolina. Don also coached West Florida from 1993-2009.
Kevin, who is a Milton High School product and Pensacola native had a stellar career as a player at Rollins prior to getting into coaching. Hogan played in 129 games (58 as a starter) in his four years with the Tars. He was a part of three 20-win seasons. In his four years as a player Hogan had a 88-34 record, this included two trips to the South Regional tournament. In 2006 Rollins won both the SSC regular season and tournament titles. They followed that up with a regular season title in 2007. He scored 1295 points in his Rollins career. He was the 34th player in Rollins history to eclipse the 1,000 point mark. He was second in 3-pointer's made (270) and third in school history in 3-point percentage (47 percent.) He was All-Freshman First Team in 2006. In 2007 he made 84 3-pointer's which was good for third in the SSC. His average improved each of his four seasons with the program (the last three being in double figures.) His sophomore season he averaged 10-9 points per game- junior year was 12.8 a night- then his senior season 13.7 a contest.
Hogan talked about how he used a lot of the tactics he learned from his dad and his Rollins coaches did for his players now:
I try to remember when I was a player I did not want to be treated like a robot. I wanted to know why we were doing things when we were doing them. The coaches that grain credibility in my mind are the ones that explain things and when they do they know what they are talking about. I try to teach guys whatever I know whenever I can. The why is so important to getting guys to buy in".
Kevin had this to say about getting to hang with his dad as a coach when he was little and what he learned from it:
" I remember road trips being what I looked forward to the most when I was young. My dad's intensity in practice always stood out to me. I got an appreciation for practice seeing how intense my dad was. It is easy to lose track of what task is most important on any given day but I try to remember how important it is to bring it in practice every day."
On the biggest lesson he learned from his Rollins coaches:
" To me, Tom, Kyle and Brad and the staff built a model that fits there system well. Work smart! Klusman cares about his players as much as any coach I have ever been around. On my visit it was evident when he walked into a room how much he genuinely cared about these guys. And you can tell they genuinely cared about him too. I don't see that often. I appreciated Brad (Coach Ash) shooting us straight. I always believed when he said something- credibility was hard to come by. Kyle (Coach Frakes) kept things fun with a great personality. In coaching, everyone needs someone to encourage them at times and speak on their behalf. Kyle has always been there when I have needed him in that regard."
Hogan had this to say on why he picked Austin Peay:
" It is hard to say in coaching why things happen. For me I pursued the job because of it's reputation as not only a successful program but a clean one."
On if he envisions himself as a DI coach:
For me yes I envision myself as a DI coach but coaching is coaching no matter the level. The biggest draw in DI coaching is it opens up more opportunities for other jobs than at any other level. Hopefully the success of DII coaches of late will start to change that."
On if he ever sees himself as head coach and which of his former teammates he could see doing the same:
" I would love to be a head coach one day. As for my former teammates I could see Jonny Reibel as being a head coach. He has always had good instincts for the game and is a relationship person. He has remained tapped into the recruiting part of the game in Chicago which is a big piece of the puzzle.
Kevin Hogan who is married to Haley has two sons (Graham who is 5 and Brooks who is 2.) Maybe one day they will get to see Kevin score a head coaching job himself. Until then they will enjoy the fun times like they had in Nashville in March.
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