Jim Hayford completed his fourth season as the head coach of Seattle University men's basketball in 2020-21. He was named the Redhawks' head coach on Wednesday, Mar. 28, 2017. In his first season at Seattle U, he led the Redhawks to their most successful season in the school’s modern-day Division I era and has complied a 64-55 record at SU. Hayford is 424-230 in 22 total seasons as a head coach.
Challenged by one of most unique seasons of sport in his 22 years, Hayford guided the 2020-21 Redhawks to a 12-11 overall record, marking a third winning record and third WAC Tournament semifinal appearance over his four seasons at Seattle U. The Redhawks opened the season with a grueling seven-game road trip with match-up including two Pac-12 members, two Big West opponents, and one each from the West Coast Conference and Mountain West. Seattle U picked up three consecutive wins for the first time since 2008-09. In the non-conference, they went on to complete a home-and-home sweep of Portland, improving to 5-0 over the Pilots during Hayford's tenure. Seattle U went 4-5 in a shortened WAC schedule, picking up big wins over NM State (the first since Hayford's first season in 2017) and eventual WAC regular-seasons and tournament champion Grand Canyon (for a third straight year). Earning the fifth seed in the WAC Tournament, the Redhawks downed fourth seed California Baptist, 83-66, to advance to the tournament semifinals.
Hayford's squad finished the year ranked among the nation's best in multiple statistical categories including sixth in turnover margin, 17th in fewest turnovers per game, 30th in turnovers forced and 52nd in fewest total turnovers. Individually, sophomore lead guard Darrion Trammell ranked in the top 50 in eight categories, including points per game (19th), assists per game (33rd) and steals per game (38th). Trammell was a two-time WAC Player of the Week, All-WAC First Team, WAC All-Newcomer and NABC All-District First Team selection.
Along with improved records over Hayford's tenure, the Redhawks have also seen a rise of their rankings, including a 199 average over his first three seasons (according to KenPom), a marked improvement over a 268 average over the previous three seasons (2015-17).
Against the abrupt and heartbreaking ending to the 2019-20 season, Hayford closed out his third season at the helm of the Redhawk program with a year filled with memorable moments and achievements. All told, the Redhawks would go 14-15 overall, 7-7 in Western Athletic Conference play and earn the third seed in the WAC Tournament – tying the program's highest seed – before the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of their final two regular-season games, the WAC Tournament and any potential postseason play.
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— Seattle U Men's Basketball (@seattleumbb) November 13, 2019
Primed to begin the year on a high note, Hayford would tip off the personal achievements on No. 12, 2019 with the 400th win of his 20-year career. The Redhawks would finish the season with a pair of 1,000-point scorers on the court as senior Morgan Means hit the mark on Mov. 26, 2019 and redshirt junior Terrell Brown added his name to the list on Feb. 20, 2020, becoming just the third and fourth players to reach 1,000 points in the program's modern-day DI era. As a team, the Redhawks added themselves to the program's record book as their 209 three pointers ranks seventh for a single season and their collective free-throw percentage of 77.5 (506-653) ranks second best all-time, trailing only the 1944-45 team that went 145-172 from the line for an 84.3 average. The team free-throw shooting also ranked among the best in the nation as their 77.5 percentage was 12th, free-throws made ranked 29th and free-throws attempted ranked 79th. The Redhawks also finished second among all 350 Division I programs in fewest turnovers, and eighth in fewest turnovers per game (10.2).
In WAC play, Seattle U earned a trio of home-and-home sweeps, downing Chicago State, CSU Bakersfield and Utah Valley – the final in thrilling overtime fashion as Means banked home a runner from the left block with 1.5 seconds remaining for an 87-85 win in Orem. The victory in Bakersfield was also a first as WAC opponents and last achieved the 2010-11 season. The Redhawks also earned a thrilling 95-89 win over Grand Canyon on Feb. 20, 2020, marking the second straight year of clinching a key win over the Lopes.
Hayford's Redhawks went 18-15 overall in 2018-19, marking the first back-to-back seasons with 18 wins or more since 2007-08 and 2008-09. The squad jumped out to a 12-3 record to start the season, including wins over Pac-12 members Washington State and Cal, marking the best start to a year in more than 50 years. The Redhawks would battle injury and illness as conference play got underway, but rebounded to win five of their final six regular-season contests. Terrell Brown (All-WAC Second Team, WAC All-Newcomer Team) and Myles Carter (WAC All-Defensive Team, NBCA All-District Second Team) both entered the Seattle U all-time record book during the season. Brown's 150 assists ranks eighth all-time and Carter's 60 blocks ranks second. The team's 238 three-pointers ranks third all-time while their 118 blocks are second.
Inheriting a program that went 13-17 in 2016-17, Hayford led the 2017-18 Redhawks to finish 20-14 overall, 16-3 on their home court and 8-6 in Western Athletic Conference play. The win total marked a program high since returning to Division I in 2008-09, and marked the first 20-win DI season since 1963-64 when Seattle U finished 22-6. The 16 home victories was also a modern-day DI record, while the eight WAC wins was the most since joining the league in 2012-13. The fourth-place finish ties the best finish during the Redhawks six years competing in the WAC. The season culminated in Hayford’s 10th national postseason appearance as a head coach as the Redhawks earned a berth in the Collegiate Basketball Invitational (CBI).
Hayford’s up-tempo style of play saw the Redhawks set numerous modern-day DI program records including total points (2,589), field goals (881), field goal percentage (44.6), three-point field goals (312), free-throw percentage (73.8), rebounds (1,298) and blocks (123). Three Redhawks earned postseason honors from the WAC, including junior center Aaron Menzies (Second Team All-WAC, All-Defensive Team), sophomore guard Matej Kavas (Second Team All-WAC) and graduate guard Jordan Hill (All-Newcomer Team). Menzies would set an all-time program record with 79 blocks and a modern-day DI record with 302 rebounds.
Taking Advantage of a Final Chance: Graduate Students Helping Rebuild Seattle U Basketball – Seattle Times (Jan. 13, 2018)
Fun, Love and Hard Work: Behind the Scenes with Jim Hayford as he Begins to Rebuild Seattle U Basketball – Seattle Times (Dec. 15, 2017)
Jim Hayford Takes Over at Seattle University and Promises to Reconnect with Glorious Past – Seattle Times (Mar. 30, 2017)
Prior to Seattle U
Hayford has had stints at Eastern Washington, Whitworth (NCAA DIII) and Sioux Falls (NAIA). He has coached in 10 national postseason tournaments, including six (2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011) at NCAA Division III Whitworth, three at EWU (2015, 2016, 2017) and one at Seattle U (2018).
In 2016-17, Hayford completed his sixth season as the head coach at EWU, leading the Eagles to a 22-12 overall record and a 13-5 mark in Big Sky Conference play. In six seasons with Hayford at the helm, the Eagles went to the NCAA Tournament (2015), the CBI Tournament (2016, 2017), earned a Big Sky regular season co-championship (2015) and won the Big Sky Tournament title (2015). Under Hayford, the Eagles had one Big Sky Conference Player of the Year (Jacob Wiles, 2017), two Big Sky Freshmen of the Year, 12 All-Big Sky selections, seven National Association of Basketball (NABC) All-District selections, two Associated Press honorable mention All-Americans and one NBA Draft pick (Tyler Harvey, 2015).
In addition, the Eagles reached 20+ wins in two of his last three seasons (2015, 2017) and had at least 10 Big Sky Conference wins over his final three seasons (2015, 2016, 2017). That includes the top two win totals in 30 seasons as a member of the Big Sky with 14 victories in 2015 and 13 in 2017.
The building process at EWU hit its stride in 2014-15 when Hayford led the Eagles to a 26-9 mark, including a 14-4 Big Sky record. EWU went on to win the Big Sky Conference Tournament and earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament – the first postseason appearance for the program since 2003-04. The team featured Tyler Harvey, who was the nation's leader in scoring (23.1 ppg) and three-pointers made per game (4.0), and went on to be the program's third all-time NBA Draft pick. For his efforts, Hayford was named Big Sky Co-Coach of the Year.
All told, 18 school records and one Big Sky mark were broken in the 2014-15 season, thanks to a productive offense that ranked third in NCAA Division I with an average of 80.6 points per game and fifth in 3-pointers per game with a 9.8 average.
The Eagles scaled one more peak in 2015-16, with the school's first-ever victory in a national postseason tournament in 33 seasons as a member of NCAA Division I – a 79-72 win over Pepperdine in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational.
Prior to the 2015-16 season, Hayford was selected by College Sports Madness as its preseason Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year. Additionally, Sam Vecenie of CBS Sports rated him as one of the top 21 offensive coaches in all of NCAA Division I.
He lived up to it, with the Eagles ranking in the top 25 in four team offensive categories in the 2015-16 season. The squad broke 17 school records, including 10 by senior Venky Jois. Jois closed his career as the all-time leading scorer in Eastern history with 1,803 points. Eastern finished 2015-16 ranked fifth in NCAA Division I with an average of 10.5 3-pointers made per game. Eastern also ranked 15th in NCAA Division I in scoring offense (81.4 points per game), 16th in overall field goal accuracy (48.3 percent) and 25th in accuracy from the 3-point stripe (38.5 percent).
Hayford's EWU teams took their success from the court into the classroom and the community. In five seasons (not including 2016-17), Hayford coached 21 Big Sky All-Academic selections along with one CoSIDA Academic All-District and Academic All-America honoree in Harvey (2015).
Hayford's Eagles were also active in the community as Hayford and staff partnered the team with the Spokane Unified School District and the Boys and Girls Club to run a mentoring program called CHAMPS (College Headed and Making Progress).
Before taking over at Eastern Washington in March of 2011, Hayford spent 10 seasons building Whitworth University in Spokane, Wash., into a NCAA Division III powerhouse.
In his tenure at the helm of the Pirates, Hayford had a record of 217-57 and a winning percentage of .792. He was the Northwest Conference Coach of the Year five times, and twice was honored by the NABC as the West Region Coach of the Year.
Taking over a program that went 25-24 in the two seasons prior (1999-01), Hayford coached the Pirates to eight 20-win seasons, six appearances in the NCAA Division III Tournament (including the last five seasons in a row), five Northwest Conference titles, three NCAA DIII Sweet 16 appearances (2008, 2010, 2011) and one Elite Eight appearance (2011). At the time he left Whitworth, his career winning percentage ranked among the top 10 among all active NCAA Division III coaches.
Prior to Whitworth, Hayford was head coach at the University of Sioux Falls (S.D.), where he compiled a 37-27 record in two seasons. During his inaugural season (1999-2000), he led the Cougars to their first conference playoff appearance in five years. Hayford's Cougars finished the 2000-01 season at 22-12, setting a school record for wins in a season. Prior to Hayford's arrival, USF was 9-17 in 1998-99.
Hayford served as the top assistant coach at Azusa Pacific University (Calif.) from 1990-99, including eight seasons under Bill Odell. APU won seven consecutive Golden State Athletic Conference titles during that time and advanced to the NAIA Division I Final Four in each of his final two seasons there.
Hayford earned his bachelor's degree in social science from Azusa Pacific in 1989. He earned a master's degree in education from Claremont Graduate School in 1991. Hayford and his wife, Robin, have two adult children, daughter, Jayme, and son, Joseph.
| YEAR | SCHOOL | OVERALL | PCT | CONFERENCE |
| 1999-00 | Sioux Falls | 15-15 | .500 | |
| 2000-01 | Sioux Falls | 22-12 | .647 | |
| Totals at Sioux Falls | (2 seasons) | 37-27 | .578 | |
| 2001-02 | Whitworth | 20-7 | .741 | 12-4/2nd |
| 2002-03 $ | Whitworth | 23-4 | .851 | 13-3/1st |
| 2003-04 | Whitworth | 19-6 | .760 | 12-4/2nd |
| 2004-05 | Whitworth | 13-11 | .542 | 9-7/4th |
| 2005-06 | Whitworth | 20-7 | .741 | 13-3/2nd |
| 2006-07 $ | Whitworth | 24-4 | .857 | 13-3/1st |
| 2007-08 $ | Whitworth | 21-7 | .750 | 12-4/1st |
| 2008-09 $ | Whitworth | 23-6 | .793 | 12-4/2nd |
| 2009-10 $ | Whitworth | 26-3 | .897 | 16-0/1st |
| 2010-11 $ | Whitworth | 28-2 | .933 | 15-1/1st |
| Totals at Whitworth | (10 seasons) | 217-57 | .792 | |
| 2011-12 | Eastern Washington | 15-17 | .469 | 8-8/4th |
| 2012-13 | Eastern Washington | 10-21 | .323 | 7-13/8th |
| 2013-14 | Eastern Washington | 15-16 | .484 | 10-10/T6th |
| 2014-15 # | Eastern Washington | 26-9 | .743 | 14-4/T1st |
| 2015-16 ! | Eastern Washington | 18-16 | .529 | 10-8/ T5th |
| 2016-17 ! | Eastern Washington | 22-12 | .647 | 13-5/2nd |
| Totals at EWU | (6 seasons) | 106-91 | .538 | |
| 2017-18 ! | Seattle University | 20-14 | .588 | 8-6/4th |
| 2018-19 @ | Seattle University | 18-15 | .545 | 6-10/7th |
| 2019-20 & | Seattle University | 14-15 | .483 | 7-7/5th |
| 2020-21 % | Seattle University | 12-11 | .521 | 4-5/5th |
| Totals at Seattle U | (4 season) | 64-55 | .538 | |
| Total as Head Coach | (22 seasons) | 424-230 | .648 |
$ - NCAA Division III participant
# - NCAA DI Tournament participant, Big Sky Conference Tournament Champions & regular-season co-champions
! - College Basketball Invitational (CBI) Tournament participant
@ - CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT)
& - Season impacted by COVID-19 pandemic (WAC Tournament canceled)
% - Season impacted by COVID-19 pandemic (late start, games reduced)