Hunt comes to Harrison County from New Orleans, where he earned himself a reputation as being known for rebuilding teams in his past history of coaching in Louisiana and Arkansas.
Hunt leaves behind East Jefferson High School where he coached for the last two years as they finished 12-9. Prior, Hunt led the Lake Charles College Prep Trailblazers for two years and was at West Jefferson between 2016-19 seasons.
The coach was part of an administration at Sophie B. Wright Charter School as the Dean of Students/Athletic Director for nearly five years. Prior to this, he successfully coached in Arkansas where he appeared in back-to-back state title games.
Hunt was unanimously approved by the Long Beach School Board of Trustees in March 14.
When asked about his goals for the Bearcats, Hunt wants to build the program. He feels it is important to not just have a strong team, but to build a strong program.
“My ultimate goal would be to win a state title. But more importantly, to build a consistent, strong, self-sustaining program which would run from elementary students through high school,” Hunt said.
Superintendent Dr. Talia Lock is happy to have Hunt join the Bearcat family in LongBeach.
“I’m looking forward to watching our Bearcat Boys Basketball program continue to flourish with Coach Hunt’s leadership after this year’s successful growth,” Lock said.
Hunt is a graduate of Henderson State University. Throughout his more than 18- year coaching career, Hunt has earned numerous honors and taken his teams to state playoffs and championships.
Long Beach Athletic Director Shane Rutledge is eager to work with Coach Hunt.
“The Long Beach School District has concluded its coaching search, and it was quite an exciting process,” Rutledge said. “We had interest from many terrific basketball coaches. I am looking forward to working with our new head coach Mr. Kevin Hunt. Coach Hunt possesses a wealth of experience from leading programs in Louisiana as well as his home state of Arkansas. We know Coach will set high expectations for his players and accept no less than their best effort on and off the court.”
Despite going to the playoffs of the previous 5 seasons before this year, Long Beach won its last District 7-5A Championship in the 2018-19 year, finishing 26-7 and advancing to the MHSAA 5A Quarterfinals under Coach Brandon Cobb. Since then, the Bearcats have not had a winning season.
