Posted: Feb 26, 2026
Five RRAC basketball coaches achieve major milestones on the road to the tournament semifinals
WACO, Texas (Feb. 26, 2025) – RRAC basketball head coaches have cemented their legacies with milestone victories in the 2025-26 season. They include Xavier (La.) women's coach Bo Browder, Texas A&M-San Antonio women's coach Chris Minner, LSU Shreveport women's coach Tim Hays, LSU Shreveport men's coach Kyle Blackenship, and XULA men's coach Alfred Williams.
Not surprisingly, all programs mentioned have earned a spot in the 2026 RRAC Championship Tournament that is currently taking place, with the semifinals set for Feb. 28. Second-seed TAMUSA women face Texas A&M-Texarkana at 1 p.m. First-seed LSUS women play fourth-seed XULA at 3 p.m. Third-seed XULA men and LSU Alexandria compete at 5:30 p.m. And, top-seed LSUS men take on Texas A&M-Texarkana at 7:30 p.m. The women's championship game will be on March 1 at 2 p.m., and the men's game at 4:30 p.m.
Xavier Women's Head Coach Bo Browder – 600 wins
XULA Head Coach Bo Browder secured his 600th win on Feb. 2 against Dillard (La.) and now has 609 wins. He is in his 27th season with the Gold Nuggets. He holds the record for the most wins by any coach in any sport at XULA. Browder won eight Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) titles before the team joined the RRAC in the 2021-22 season, when his team won the regular-season division title. His teams have qualified 19 times for the NAIA National Championship Tournament, and the Gold Nuggets have appeared in 13 NAIA Women's Coaches' Top 25 Poll, including 22nd in 2024-25.
So far in 2025-26, Coach Browder's team has posted a 19-10 overall record and a 14-8 mark in the RRAC. The Gold Nuggets have posted 621-of-1724 field goals, 130-of-461 free throws, and 379-of-598 three-pointers. They are first in the NAIA/RRAC with 17.0 offensive rebounds/game and 43.3 total rebounds/game. XULA's other stats are: 476 offensive rebounds, 736 defensive rebounds, 1212 total rebounds (RRAC best), 349 assists, 78 blocks, 279 steals, and 1757 points.
Texas A&M-San Antonio Women's Head Coach Chris Minner – 500 wins
TAMUSA Head Coach Chris Minner achieved his 500th win Feb. 25 during the postseason quarterfinals against Texas College. Minner started the women's basketball team last season, a feat he also accomplished in 2009, when he started the women's team as assistant coach at Our Lady of the Lake (Texas). His previous head coaching stints also include Texas A&M-Texarkana and Midway. In addition, he was an assistant coach with NCAA D1 University of North Texas and D2 Texas A&M-International.
At OLLU, as head coach, Minner led the team from 2012-19, posting a 189-45 record and a 121-11 RRAC record. He guided The Saints to six of seven regular-season titles, two postseason trophies, two NAIA first round appearances, four round of 16 berths, and one final four round. His teams achieved mostly first-place rankings in the RRAC, and eighth, 10th, 12th, 13th, and 15th rankings in the NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll. In 2015-16, the Saints were ranked first, the only team at OLLU to achieve the ranking, until softball was ranked first in the 2024 season.
In his first season with the Jaguars, he posted an 18-12 record and earned a spot in the RRAC postseason. So far this season, his record is 22-7 overall, and he finished the RRAC season at 17-4. His team stats are as follows: 730-of-1891 field goals, 174-of-640 three-pointers, 519-of-702 free throws (RRAC best), 1146 rebounds, 374 assists, 130 blocks (RRAC best), 413 steals, and 2155 points (RRAC best).
LSU Shreveport Women's Head Coach Tim Hays – 400 wins
LSUS Head Coach Tim Hays earned his 400th win on Feb. 21 against OLLU, and he now has 401 wins. He joined the Pilots team in the 2024-25 season. He guided the team to a 27-4 overall record and a 23-1 RRAC record. His efforts earned him RRAC Women's Basketball Coach of the Year honors as LSUS claimed both the regular-season and tournament championships, and a spot in the NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll at No. 25.
His previous coaching assignments included serving as head coach at Pepperdine and being part of the University of Colorado staff. He also led Southeastern (Fla.) to a 176-13 record and a perfect 106-0 conference record in six seasons. His team won six conference regular-season titles and five tournament titles, reached two national semifinals, and played for the 2019 national championship. Hays' team achieved a No. 1 national ranking in four different seasons, never finishing lower than No. 8. He also coached at NCAA D1 Colorado Christian University.
This season, Hays' team has recorded a 25-4 overall record and a 12-1 record in the RRAC, earning the regular-season title. The team received 44 votes in the final NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 poll.
The Pilots' stats are as follows: 786-of-1824 field goals, 200-of-669 three-pointers (RRAC best), 325-of-509 free throws, 1142 rebounds, 456 assists (RRAC best), 117 blocks, 450 steals (RRAC best), and 2099 points.
LSU Shreveport Men's Head Coach Kyle Blankenship – 350 wins
LSUS Head Coach Kyle Blankenship posted his 350th win on Feb. 20 against TAMUSA, and he now has 352 wins. He has served as head coach since the 2012-13 season and has become the winningest coach in program history. He has the most wins among active coaches at a college or university in Louisiana. His team is currently 24-5 overall and ended the regular season at 20-2.
Blankenship has guided the Pilots to their 21st consecutive appearances in the national tournament. His teams in the RRAC have won six regular-season titles and five tournament titles. Most notably, Blankenship not only led the men's team to a 24-9 record in 2023-24 and a round of 16 appearance for the third consecutive year, he also took on the interim head coaching role for the women's program. The Pilots finished with a 30-3 overall record, and a perfect 22-0 in RRAC play, capturing both the regular-season and tournament titles. In March of 2024, Blackenship became the first college basketball coach to win a NAIA National Tournament game with two different teams on the same day.
Blankenship also had coaching stints at Rogers State University and Lamar State College-Port Arthur.
The Pilots have recorded the following stats this season: 997-of-1909 field goals (RRAC best), 211-of-522 three-pointers, 362-of-723 free throws, 1225 rebounds (RRAC best), 510 assists (RRAC best), 171 blocks (RRAC best), 221 steals, and 2668 points (RRAC best).
Xavier Men's Head Coach Alfred Williams – 200 wins
XULA Head Coach Alfred Williams attained his 200th win against Texas College on Feb. 19, and he now has 202 wins. He has been the head coach with the Gold Nuggets since the 2016-17 season. To date, Williams-led XULA teams have won five conference championships – two regular-season titles and three tournament wins – and have graduated 30 student-athletes and support staff.
Williams' XULA teams have won two GCAC regular-season championships, three tournament championships (two in GCAC and one in RRAC). His teams have qualified for the NAIA National Championship tournament five times (2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 with GCAC; 2022, 2023, and 2025 with RRAC).
He previously coached at NCAA D2 Harris-Stowe State University.
His 2025-26 stats are as follows: 823-of-1821 field goals, 224-of-644 three-pointers (RRAC best), 424-of-652 free throws (RRAC best), 1053 rebounds, 453 assists, 122 blocks, 339 steals (RRAC best), and 2297 points. Williams' team is currently 20-9 and finished the regular season with an 11-4 record.
The landscape of RRAC athletics has been fundamentally reshaped by this select group of head coaches, whose milestones transcend mere statistics. They have instilled the importance of the five core values of the NAIA Champions of Character program - integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship, and servant leadership - not only on the court, but also in the community as effective leaders, and in the classroom, maintaining a high level of excellence.