Kyle Tolin enters his fifth year on the bench at UT Permian Basin in 2025-26. Prior to UTPB, Tolin spent the last seven seasons at the University of Arkansas - Monticello, where 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. In 11 seasons as head coach at UTPB and UAM, Tolin has a career record of 170-143.
Tolin's Falcons reached the Lone Star Conference playoffs in his first season (2021-22) and he finished with the second most wins by a first year head coach in program history with 16. The Falcons boasted one of the best defensive teams in program history, allowing the fewest points in a season since 2012-13. The Falcons were led offensively by point guard DaJuan Jones, who shattered the single season program record for assists with 186. Jones was in contention to finish as the nation's leader before an injury late in the season forced him to miss three games. Miles Daniels proved to be one of the best scorers in program history, finishing with 483 points and 107 made 3-pointers. The made threes rank Daniels second in a single season. Right behind him in scoring was Jordan Horn who scored 470 points. Jones and Daniels earned second-team all-conference honors and Horn was named to the third-team.
In the last two seasons (2034-24, 2024-25), Coach Tolin and the Falcons have gone 12-10 in the LSC and have finished just one game away from making the LSC Tournament. The Falcons finished their 2023-24 season with a record of 17-11 overall, but were sixth in the LSC West Division (6-8). In the regular-season finale at home vs. Angelo State University, it was the Rams who scored with 10 seconds left in the game and kept the Falcons out of the postseason with a 68-67 win in Odessa, Texas. Graduate student Lathaniel Bastian was named to the all-conference second-team and all-defensive team while junior Alex Matthews was named to the third-team and senior Keyon Craddock earned honorable mention.
In 2024-25, UTPB started the season 12-3 overall and 8-1 in the LSC. It was Falcons' best start in the LSC since starting 8-1 during the 2017-18 season. The Falcons opened the month of February by improving to 15-6 overall and 11-4 in the LSC and led the LSC West Division (7-2) until February 6. In the end, however, UTPB fell 74-67 at Angelo State during the regular-season finale. It was the second year in a row the Falcons were kept out of the postseason by falling to the Rams in the final game of the regular season. In addition, UTPB's season has ended at the hands of the Rams during all four of Coach Tolin's seasons leading the Falcons. UTPB finished its 2024-25 season 16-12 overall and was sixth in the LSC West Division for the second year in a row, this time at 7-7. Four seniors from the 2024-25 UT Permian Basin men's basketball team earned All-Lone Star Conference honors. Alex Matthews and Dario Domingos were both named second-team all-conference while Maison Adeleye and DJ Armstrong were named to the third-team. Each of the four players started in all 28 games for the Falcons that season. Matthews finished third in the UTPB record books with 240 made free throws across his two seasons as a Falcon while Armstrong finished fourth in program history with 154 made 3-pointers across his two seasons.
With the 2020-21 season shortened due to COVID-19, UAM won 16 games and claimed the regular season GAC Eastern Division title. The Weevils were 16-4 and 12-4 in GAC play, finishing with the second highest winning percentage in school history. Tolin guided a trio of Weevils to All-GAC honors including DaJuan Jones, who landed NABC All-District honors, was an unanimous All-GAC selection, and was the GAC Tournament MVP. UAM capped the season by defeating Southern Arkansas for the program's first GAC Championship Tournament title and earning the three-seed in the NCAA Division II Tournament. The Weevils finished the year ranked No. 21 in the NABC Top-25.
In 2019-20, UAM narrowly missed out on their first 20-win campaign since 2016-17 when it won 23 games. It was the second time Tolin led the Weevils to 19 wins in his tenure. UAM earned another GAC Championship Tournament berth, but fell to eventual GAC Champion Henderson State in the first round. UAM’s 19-win season was highlighted by a seven-game win streak capped by some outstanding guard play from All-GAC honoree, KJ Lesure. Tolin also guided him to a CoSIDA Academic All-American nod on the year and he also coached three players onto the NABC Honors Court, including Lesure, Marcus Gilbert, and Kwame McBean.
In 2018-19, the Weevils were 16-13 and 12-11 in GAC play. They also made the conference tournament for the third consecutive season. He coached guard KJ Lesure to second-team all-conference honors as well as saw his academic career flourish as he was named a GAC Distinguished Scholar Athlete.
The 2017-18 season proved to be an impressive one as the Weevils finished with a 19-12 overall record and a 12-9 conference record and the team made it to the GAC Conference Championship Game. Tolin also coached a trio of All-GAC award winners in Derylton Hill, Cobe Goosby, and Karim Mawuenyega.
In a record-breaking 2016-17 season, Tolin and the Weevils finished the year with a 23-7 overall record and a 17-5 mark in GAC games. It was the second most wins in a single-season for the Weevils, the highest winning percentage in school history, and the most conference wins for a single season in school history. Tolin’s Weevils qualified for the NCAA tournament after a runner-up finish at the 2017 GAC Championship Tournament in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. It was the first GAC finals appearance in school history and just the second NCAA tournament appearance since joining Division II in 1995. Tolin earned GAC Coach of the Year honors in 2017 after directing the best turnaround in school history, going from eight wins in 2015-16 to 23 in 2016-17. He was rewarded for his efforts by UAM Chancellor Dr. Karla Hughes and Athletics Director John Harvey with a multi-year contract inked in June of 2017, just the second deal of its kind in the history of the department.
No stranger to success, Tolin took the reins of the UAM program in 2014 after helping Oklahoma Baptist reach 14 straight NAIA national tournaments during his 10 years as an assistant coach and four years as a student-athlete. The 2010 Bison team won the NAIA national championship, while the 2002 and 2012 teams finished as national runners-up. During that 14-year span, the team’s record in the national tournament was 30-12. The 2010 national championship team finished with an overall record of 34-2.
Also during his coaching career, Tolin helped OBU obtain the highest winning percentage of any four-year university in Oklahoma. The Bison pulled off three straight Sooner Athletic Conference championships from 2010-2012. Tolin coached and recruited two NAIA national players of the year, three Sooner Athletic Conference Players of the Year, six SAC Defensive Players of the Year, one GAC Newcomer of the Year, 10 All-America honorees, 25 All-Conference selections and two Academic All-America honorees.
As a student-athlete at Oklahoma Baptist, Tolin scored over 1,000 points during his four-year career and was a two-time All-SAC 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.
Tolin’s father, Doug, was the head coach at Oklahoma Baptist from 2000-15. Doug Tolin, who joined the UAM staff as an assistant coach starting in the 2015-16 season, is a member of the Oklahoma Baptist Athletic Hall of Fame, the East Central Athletic Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Basketball Association Hall of Fame, and the Norman High School Hall of Fame with over 700 wins to his credit.
Kyle Tolin 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 the former Lisa Hansen and has two children, Macy and Luke.
|
Tolin at UTPB
|
| Year |
Season at UTPB |
Overall Record |
Conference Record |
Conference Finish/Accolades |
| 2021-22 |
1st |
16-13 |
8-8 |
10th LSC
Advanced to LSC Tournament First Round |
| 2022-23 |
2nd |
13-18 |
7-15 (4-10 West Division) |
13th LSC (7th West Division) |
| 2023-24 |
3rd |
17-11 |
12-10 (6-8 West Division) |
9th LSC (6th West Division) |
| 2024-25 |
4th |
16-12 |
12-10 (7-7 West Division) |
9th LSC (6th West Division) |
| Overall |
62-54 (.534 pct.) |
39-43 (.476 pct.) / 17-25 Divisional Record (.405 pct.) |
One LSC Tournament Appearance |
