Neil Hardin has served seven seasons as men's basketball assistant coach at Sam Houston State. Hardin's duties include helping plan and run practice, opponent scouting, recruiting, and off season individual skill instruction.

A member of Bob Marlin's staff since Marlin became head coach in 1998, Hardin has played an important role in directing the Bearkats to an 85-57 record, the best record in the Southland Conference the past five years.

That record includes two Southland Conference regular season titles and an SLC post-season tournament victory and NCAA championships appearance in 2003. The Bearkats have posted victories over every team in the Southland Conference and non-league wins over such top teams as Baylor (Big 12), Houston (Conference USA), Montana State (Big Sky), Chattanooga (Southern), and New Orleans (Sun Belt). The men's basketball program earned the Southland Conference's highest NCAA Division I RPI in the past five seasons last year.

"Neil has been one of the main reasons for our success during the last five years," said Bob Marlin. "He has done a good job in all areas, but specifically in our off-season individual workouts. He has recruited good players and helped make them better."

Hardin is from Pensacola, FL. He worked with current SHSU Head Basketball Coach Bob Marlin from 1992 to 1995 at Pensacola Junior College and was with Marlin when the Pirates won the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Championship in 1992-93. Pensacola produced an overall record of 74 victories and only 22 defeats during those three seasons, a winning percentage of .771.

Hardin attended the University of West Florida in Pensacola while working with Coach Marlin and the Pirates. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Sports Science from West Florida in 1995. In 1996, Hardin followed Marlin to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa where he worked as a graduate assistant. Hardin helped monitor the academic progress of Crimson Tide student athletes in each sport. He primarily worked with the men's basketball and baseball programs. He also assisted with the daily Crimson Tide men's basketball practices. Hardin earned his Master of Arts degree in Exercise Physiology from the University of Alabama in 1998.

Hardin is the son of Emery and Celia Hardin. He and wife, Melissa, who is a Sam Houston State graduate and played volleyball for the Kats, have a daughter, Alexis, who was born in July, 2002.