Greg Heiar

American basketball coach (born 1975)
Greg Heiar
Current position
TitleHead Coach
TeamMineral Area College
ConferenceMCCAC
Biographical details
Born (1975-09-14) September 14, 1975 (age 48)
Dubuque, Iowa, U.S.
Playing career
1996–1998Kirkwood CC
1998–2000Mount St. Clare
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2000–2001Mount St. Clare (assistant)
2001–2003Loras College (assistant)
2003–2004Chipola JC (assistant)
2004–2009Chipola JC
2009–2011Southern Miss (assistant)
2011–2017Wichita State (assistant)
2017–2020LSU (assistant)
2020–2021ETSU (assistant)
2021–2022NW Florida State
2022–2023New Mexico State
2023–presentMineral Area College
Head coaching record
Overall204–35 (.854)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
5x Panhandle Conference Champions (2005–2009)
5x Panhandle Conference Coach of the Year
NJCAA Division National Champion (2022)

Greg Heiar (born August 14, 1975) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach of the Mineral Area College men’s basketball team.

Playing career

Heiar played college basketball for two seasons at Kirkwood Community College under Chris Jans, whom he succeeded as head coach at New Mexico State 25 years later.[1] Heiar completed his playing career at Mount St. Clare, where he was a two-year captain, all-conference selection and team MVP.[2]

Coaching career

After graduation, Heiar assisted his alma mater for one season before joining the coaching staff at Loras College. He reunited with Jans at NJCAA institution Chipola College as an assistant coach for a season, before being elevated to the head coaching position. He coached at Chipola from 2004 to 2009, compiling a 164–15 record.[3] After earning numerous coach of the year honors and a third-place finish in the 2009 NJCAA Tournament, Heiar joined Larry Eustachy's staff at Southern Miss.[4] In 2011, he joined the coaching staff of Gregg Marshall at Wichita State. At WSU, he was a part of seven NCAA tournament squads, including the Shockers' 2013 Final Four appearance.[2] After Wichita, Heiar served as an assistant coach to Will Wade at LSU 2017-2020.[5] Heiar departed from LSU and served a one-year assistant coaching stint at East Tennessee State under coach Jason Shay. In 2021, Heiar returned to the junior college ranks, taking over at Northwest Florida State College, where his team won the NJCAA Division national tournament with a 31–5 record.[6][7]

On March 27, 2022, Heiar was named the 27th head coach in New Mexico State men's basketball history, succeeding Jans, who had accepted the head coaching position at Mississippi State.[8][9]

On November 19, 2022, Coach Heiar and his coaching staff were involved in the police response when one of his athletes, Mike Peake, was attacked in a premeditated plan by four University of New Mexico (UNM) students, resulting in the death of one of the UNM freshman students.[10] The featured rivalry basketball game was canceled and the team returned to Las Cruces.

On February 10, 2023, Heiar and his staff were placed on administrative leave and the men’s basketball program was suspended until further notice after New Mexico State University announced an internal investigation for unspecified violations.[11] It was later revealed that one of Heiar's players claimed to have been hazed by his teammates. As a result of the investigation, the men’s basketball program was suspended for the remainder of the season.[12] On February 14, 2023, Heiar was fired as head coach.[13]

Head coaching record

NCAA D1

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
New Mexico State Aggies (Western Athletic Conference) (2022–2023)
2022–23 New Mexico State 9–15 2–16 Season cancelled midseason
New Mexico State: 9–15 (.375) 2–16 (.111)
Total: 9–15 (.375)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

NJCAA

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Chipola College (Panhandle Conference) (2004–2009)
2004–05 Chipola JC 18–2[14] N/A
2005–06 Chipola JC 27–4[15] N/A
2006–07 Chipola JC 35–3[16] N/A
2007–08 Chipola JC 35–2[17] N/A
2008–09 Chipola JC 34–2[18] N/A
Chipola JC: 165–15 (.917)
NW Florida State (Panhandle Conference) (2021–2022)
2021–22 NW Florida State 31–5 9–3 1st NJCAA D1 National Champions
NW Florida State: 31–5 (.861) 9–3 (.750)
Total: 195–20 (.907)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. ^ "Greg Heiar - Head Coach - Men's Basketball Coaches". New Mexico State University Athletics.
  2. ^ a b "Greg Heiar - Men's Basketball Coach". Wichita State Athletics.
  3. ^ "Chipola College" – via chipolaathletics.com. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. ^ "Greg Heiar Joins Basketball Staff as Assistant Coach". Southern Miss.
  5. ^ "Greg Heiar". LSU. June 1, 2021.
  6. ^ "Northwest Florida State College". Northwest Florida State College.
  7. ^ Watson, Billy. "Northwest Florida State second straight 10th seed to win NJCAA Div. I national championship". The Hutchinson News.
  8. ^ "Greg Heiar Named 27th Head Coach of NM State Men's Basketball Team". New Mexico State University Athletics.
  9. ^ Wagner, Stephen. "New Mexico State hires Greg Heiar to replace Chris Jans". Las Cruces Sun-News.
  10. ^ "Teammates helped NMSU basketball player after fatal shooting on UNM campus - Albuquerque Journal". www.abqjournal.com. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  11. ^ "New Mexico State men's basketball shuts down program indefinitely; sources cite hazing incidents". KTSM 9 News. 2023-02-11. Retrieved 2023-06-22.
  12. ^ "New Mexico State men's basketball coach fired after alleged hazing incident on team". ABC News. Retrieved 2023-06-22.
  13. ^ Groves, Jason (February 14, 2023). "Greg Heiar fired as NMSU Aggies basketball coach amid athlete hazing investigation". Las Cruces Sun-News. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  14. ^ "Chipola College - Schedule - NJCAA Stats". NJCAA.
  15. ^ "Chipola College - Schedule - NJCAA Stats". NJCAA.
  16. ^ "Chipola College - Schedule - NJCAA Stats". NJCAA.
  17. ^ "Chipola College - Schedule - NJCAA Stats". NJCAA.
  18. ^ "Chipola College - Schedule - NJCAA Stats". NJCAA.
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New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball head coaches

# denotes interim head coach