Original article (Championship Caliber Coach Tolin Takes Over MBB Program) on the University of Texas-Permian Basin athletic website www.utpbfalcons.com.
Coming off a highly successful stint as the Head Coach at the University of Arkansas – Monticello, the University of Texas Permian Basin has announced Kyle Tolin as the next Head Coach of the Falcon Men’s Basketball program. Tolin spent the last seven seasons at UAM in which he reached the NCAA Tournament twice, won a pair of regular season conference championships, and had 108 victories, completely turning around the Boll Weevil program. Since the 2016-17 season, UAM had the second most victories within the Great American Conference.
“Kyle is a rising star in the coaching profession and the numbers the last few years speak for themselves,” said Director of Athletics Todd Dooley. “We are lucky to find a coach of this caliber this late in the year.”
Last season, with the year shortened due to COVID, Tolin led UAM to a 16-5 record and a regular season GAC Championship, the second of his coaching career. UAM captured their first ever GAC Tournament Championship to reach the NCAA Tournament as the No. 3 seed in the South Central Region. In the final National Association of Basketball Coaches Top-25 poll, the Boll Weevils were ranked No. 21 in the country.
“I am so excited to become the head coach at UTPB,” said Tolin. “My family and I are grateful for the wonderful opportunity that Dr. Sandra Woodley and Todd Dooley are giving us. I also want to thank all the student-athletes that I have been able to coach at UAM as well as the great assistants I have been able to work with.”
Tolin led the Boll Weevils to a winning season every year since 2016-17, when the team had the best turnaround in school history. After winning just eight games the year prior, Tolin’s team went 23-7 and qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the second time in the program’s Division II history. For his efforts, Tolin was awarded the 2017 GAC Coach of the Year. The team reached the finals of the GAC Tournament the very next season after posting a 19-12 record.
Prior to joining UAM, Tolin had an extremely successful career as an assistant coach and student-athlete at Oklahoma Baptist, helping them reach 14 consecutive NAIA National Tournaments. In 2010, as the Associate Head Coach under his father Doug, Oklahoma Baptist captured the NAIA National Championship and reached the championship game in 2002 and 2012.
As a student-athlete at Oklahoma Baptist, Tolin scored over 1,000 points during his four-year career and was a two-time All-Sooner Athletic Conference honorable mention. He played in every game during his career, and in addition to his scoring, averaged 4.3 assists per game overall. He was named OBU’s Senior Male Athlete of the Year in 2004.
He graduated from Oklahoma Baptist in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in history education, and later obtained a master’s degree in sports administration from East Central University in 2006. He is married to his wife Lisa, and has two children, Macy and Luke.