Hunter Hays hired as new assistant coach

Grand Canyon added Hunter Hays, Lopes head coach Shanon Hays' son, to the acclaimed softball program's staff as assistant coach.

"I'm very happy to hire Hunter as our infielders coach," Shanon Hays said. "He is an experienced coach and recruiter that has developed a reputation as a skilled teacher. He's grown up around the game, which has given him great perspective, and I think he's the perfect fit for our staff."

Hunter Hays previously served as an assistant coach at North Texas since 2023, where the Mean Green totaled a 67-46 record in his two seasons on the staff. North Texas reached last year's Conference USA Tournament championship game and this year's American Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals.

In two seasons as an assistant coach at Oklahoma Christian from 2021-2022, Hunter Hays helped guide the Eagles to consecutive berths in the NCAA Division II tournament and helped showcase 18 all-conference athletes and one D-II All-America second-team athlete in 2022.

Shanon Hays has accumulated 604 collegiate victories over 15 years in softball and 58 wins as the men's basketball coach over three seasons at Abilene Christian. Hunter's grandfather, Larry Hays, is also the winningest head coach in Texas Tech baseball history with 813 wins and the current head coach for Colorado Christian softball.

Hunter Hays began his college baseball career at Abilene Christian in 2016, where he started 16 games as a freshman. In 2018, he transferred to play his final three seasons at D-II Colorado Christian, where he posted a .299 batting average over 107 games with 65 runs, 62 RBIs and 21 doubles for the Cougars.

After graduating from Colorado Christian with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 2020, Hunter Hays held a graduate assistant position on the Oklahoma Christian baseball coaching staff during the 2020-21 academic year.

Grand Canyon University Athletics

Related Videos