North Texas men’s basketball head coach Grant McCasland has announced the addition of Nelson Haggerty as a special assistant to the head coach.
Haggerty, who brings with him over 18 years of coaching experience comes to North Texas after eight seasons as Midwestern State’s head coach.
While at MSU, he guided them to five NCAA Tournaments — three times was a No. 1 seed —, four first-place finishes in the Lone Star Conference, two Lone Star Conference tournament championships, 155 wins with a .640 winning percentage, an Elite Eight and two Sweet 16 appearances.
While at Midwestern State, Haggerty battled against coaching greats such as Chris Beard at Angelo State and led MSU to a regular season league title over the Rams in 2013-14.
In 2016, Midwestern State held a No. 1 national ranking on its way to the LSC regular season and tournament championship.
Prior to his time as the Mustangs head coach, Haggerty spent two seasons as McCasland’s associate head coach at MSU from 2009-11.
“Coach Hagg is an elite basketball coach but what makes him special is a genuine care for people and his ability to create authentic relationships,” McCasland said. “Hagg is as good of a coach as anyone I’ve been around. His experience and basketball knowledge will be a huge a blessing to our program. We are thrilled to have him and his family with us here in Denton.”
In part-time responsibilities, Haggerty will serve as an advisor in several key areas around the program.
The two-time LSC Coach of the Year, NABC Regional Coach of the Year and 2016 TABC Small College Coach of the Year coached a pair of All Americans in Michael Loyd and Corbin Thomas while mentoring 17 All-Lone Star Conference picks, two LSC Defensive Players of the Year and a LSC Newcomer of the Year.
He led the Mustangs to a 29-4 record while advancing to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in 2011-12 claiming NABC South Central Region and Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year honors in his first season in the lead chair. The Mustangs then posted a 22-9 mark with Haggerty leading the team to its fifth consecutive NCAA postseason run in 2012-13 as MSU advanced the South Central Region semifinals.
All in all, Haggerty is MSU’s third-winningest coach ever and his .640 winning percentage in Wichita Falls is the fourth-best in program history. He’s the fastest coach in MSU history to 100 wins, getting to the mark in just 130 games.
“My family and I are thrilled to be in Denton and join the Mean Green basketball family,” Haggerty said. “Being able to work with such a great friend and coach is going to be fun and exciting. I’m looking forward to contributing to an already incredible staff, administration and university during a great time at North Texas.”
A 1995 graduate from Baylor, Haggerty is one of the Bears all-time greats.
His 699 career assists are the most in Baylor history. An all-conference point guard, he led the nation in assists during his senior season with a 10.1 average. He holds the program record for most assists in a game with 19. Overall, eight of Baylor’s 10 best single-game assist performances are owned by Haggerty.
https://meangreensports.com/news/2019/10/17/mens-basketball-haggerty-joins-mean-green.aspx
