After eight seasons as an assistant and associate head coach at Keene State, Dave Hastings will slide over a chair next season.

The former Pioneer Valley Regional boys basketball coach was promoted to acting Keene State head men's basketball coach for the 2023-24 season on Wednesday, replacing departed Owls coach Ryan Cain who left to take the head job at Johns Hopkins last month.

“It’s a dream opportunity,” Hastings said. “I’ve been coaching for a long time and dreamed of being a college coach for even one day. Now I get to do it for at least a year. Being a head coach at this level was always the goal. It’s my son Bo’s birthday [Wednesday] and it was one of the most special days of my life when he was born. Now on that same day I get my position as a college coach, which is a dream job. I feel so blessed for this opportunity.”

Welcome aboard, @coachhastings12!

🔗: https://t.co/jotiGw7g54 pic.twitter.com/hDpFdnDP80

— 🦉🔴 Keene State Athletics (@KeeneStateOwls) July 12, 2023

Hastings, a veteran of the United States Armed Forces, was also Chief of Police in the town of Gill until 2017. He joined the Owls' coaching staff prior to the 2016-17 season and has served as associate head coach since 2018. Keene State has made several deep postseason runs during his tenure, as the Owls advanced to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Division III championship in 2017, the second round in 2022, and the Sweet 16 in 2023. 

The program also qualified for the NCAA tournament in 2019 and won Little East Conference (LEC) regular-season championships in 2019 and 2023, in addition to LEC tournament championships in 2019, 2022 and 2023.

“Dave is the logical choice to take over for Coach Cain as we head into the 2023-24 season,” said Abe Osheyack, Assistant Athletic Director, in a release. “The leadership team and myself look forward to working with him to continue to recent success of the KSC men's basketball program.”

Hastings had plenty of support within the program after Cain took the Johns Hopkins job. Having been on the staff for many years, and with the successes the Owls have had, administration chose to keep some continuity on the coaching staff.

“I’ve been with Ryan for seven years so there will be no surprises about who I am and how I do things,” Hastings said. “I had the support of the outgoing coach, the current coaching staff wanted me to be the head coach, and all the current players reached out to the right people because they wanted me elevated. Alumni chimed in, too. Keeping the team the same and keeping the same concept and structures we have in place was the logical choice.” 

When filling a job at a place as successful as Keene State, there’s going to be outside interest in the position. Having the support within the team played a major role in his promotion. 

“I can’t say enough about what we’ve developed here,” Hastings said. “Keene State is one of the top 20 jobs in Division 3 basketball. There were a number of people who reached out wanting to apply for the position. Some parts of me were concerned someone with a better resume was going to want the job. Having the support of the current team was integral to me getting the job.” 

Hastings plans to bring back the staff from last year while adding two new coaches who he hopes will bring new voices into the fold. One is a former Keene State player and another was on staff a few years ago.

“Assistant coaches that are yes men aren’t useful,” Hastings said. “We’ll have some different views on the staff which is a good thing.” 

While there are always stylistic changes with a new head coach, don’t expect the Owls to differ much in how they play on the court. After all, Keene State put up 85.4 points-per-game a season ago — the 15th highest total in Div. 3 — while holding opponents to just 68.2 PPG.

“There will definitely be some tweaks,” Hastings said. “Offensively we were one of the best scoring teams in the country so there’s not much to change there. Defensively I’ll do a few things different than [Cain] did. We have the vast majority of our kids returning. We’re in a great position.” 

Hastings’ official title might say acting head coach, but he’s hoping that this won’t be just a one year thing running the show with the Owls. 

“I would like to see it go past the year,” Hastings said. “We’ll see how it goes. It doesn’t matter to me what tag goes in front of or behind the title. At the end of the day, it still says head coach.” 

Hastings becomes the 15th coach in Keene State history. The Owls open their season Nov. 11 when they host Western New England University.

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