Hall of Honor
Larry's roots with Lubbock Christian University reach very deep into the university's foundation and he has a baseball resume that not very many can match, including induction into the Collegiate Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015.
The Dora, New Mexico native attended what was then Lubbock Christian College and was a member of the Pioneers basketball team while earning an Associates of Arts degree in 1964. He then attended Eastern New Mexico University, where he earned a bachelors (1966) and master's degree (1969). Hays returned to Lubbock Christian College as they were transitioning from a junior college to a four-year college, and his first task was serving as the head coach of the men's basketball team. In 1971, he reinstated the suspended baseball program at LCC and his coaching reign with the Chaps began his stepping stone to becoming an ambassador of the sport in the South Plains. The Chaps went 695-381-1 under Hays, collecting eight NAIA District titles, two area championships and a NAIA national title in 1983. His number 27 is the only one retired by the Chap baseball program.Â
Along with his baseball coaching duties, Hays also served as the head coach of the women's basketball program (1982-1983) and athletic director (1979-1986). He was a chairman of the NAIA Baseball Rating Committee and also was instrumental in the NAIA World Series appearing in Lubbock from 1981-1983.
Hays left LCU in 1986 and became the head baseball coach at Texas Tech. In 22 seasons with the Red Raiders, Hays only endured two losing seasons and compiled a record of 814-479-3. Hays led the Red Raiders to two regular-season conference championships, two conference tournament championships (Southwest Conference and Big 12 Conference) and nine NCAA Tournament appearances (eight straight from 1995-2002). He took a 550-576 Tech program and left with the program boasting a 1,365-1,054-9 mark.
He stepped down from Texas Tech as one of only five coaches in NCAA history to achieve over 1,500 wins (behind Gordie Gillespie, Augie Garrido, Gene Stephenson and Mike Martin). Hays' achievements, including serving as a coach on the 1997 Team USA baseball team, have not been overlooked. In 1991, LCU inducted Hays into their Hall of Honor. LCU also renamed their baseball facility Hays Field in 1999 to honor not only Larry, but his entire family. On November 15, 2001, Hays became the first college baseball coach in the state to be inducted into the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame based within the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in Waco. He has also been inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame and the MEAC Hall of Fame.
Hays, an individual that always places God first, family second, and coaching third, replaced his son Shanon as the Lady Chaps softball head coach in 2010 and spent a season leading the Lady Chaps to the NAIA Softball National Championships before handing over the reins to his son Daren, who still leads the team today.Â
Although Larry Hays is mostly known as the former Texas Tech and Lubbock Christian University baseball coach, he is also a former professional softball pitcher. He played professional fastpitch softball in Mobile, Ala., Montreal and St. Louis. His motivation in returning back to softball stemmed from the time spent assisting Shanon, as Shanon led the Lady Chaps softball program to the 2008 NAIA National Championship title.
Larry has been married to the former Nell Ainsworth for over 45 years. They have five children (Daren, Shanon, Bandi Chrisman, Justin, and Melanie Redding), eight granddaughters (Brittany Kaye, Brogan Leigh, Allie, Ashleigh, Kaytee & Kelsee, Hampton Renee and Mary Elizabeth) and three grandsons (Hunter, Heath and Joshua Hays Redding). Like Larry, his three sons have had a passion for the coaching profession. Daren, a former LCU baseball coach, left Texas Tech University's baseball staff to take over LCU's softball program in 2011, while Shanon, a former collegiate athletic director, basketball coach and softball coach, is currently the head softball coach at Oklahoma Christian.
