Matt Brackett completed his eighth season as the head coach of his alma mater – Hardin-Simmons. He led the Cowboys to the American Southwest Conference title and the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament this season.
Bracket was named the 26
th head coach in Hardin-Simmons history on April 27, 2017.
In 2025, he was named the ASC coach of the year for the second straight season and was named the West Region Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
In his career, he has posted a 128-74 record as the head coach of the Cowboys. The Cowboys have won the league regular-season title each of the last two years.
At HSU, he has coached 10 first-team all-ASC selections, eight second-team all-ASC players, a third-team selection and 13 honorable mention All-ASC picks for a total 32 all-league performers. He also has had eight players named to the ASC all-defensive team and eight named to the ASC freshman of the year team. Two players – Chris Barrett and Chase Cobb were named the ASC defensive player of the year and Steven Quinn and Matthew Alexander were named the ASC freshman of the year.
Will Bartoszek was the ASC player of the year in 2024 and was also named all-region and All-American. He has coached four all-region players, including three this past season in Bartoszek, Austin Brewer and Chris Bryant.
Prior to becoming the head coach HSU, Brackett coached at several schools on the junior high and high school level both boys and girls and spent time as a graduate assistant at HSU. He also has served as a camp instructor at the NCAA Academy, the University of Texas at Arlington and Southern Methodist, among others.
Brackett was a four-year player, three-year starter and two-year captain for Hardin-Simmons from 2004 to 2007. He ranks among the school’s all-time leaders in assists, steals and games played. He was named academic all-conference three times and won the ASC’s sportsmanship award for men’s basketball in 2007.
He is married to the former Rachel Cisneroz, who also played basketball at Hardin-Simmons. They have three children - Tyce, Jolee and Eason. Brackett has a bachelor’s degree from Hardin-Simmons in education. He has a master’s degree from Lamar University in educational administration.
| Year |
Overall |
ASC |
| 2018 |
9-16 |
7-10 |
| 2019 |
17-11 |
10-6 |
| 2020 |
11-15 |
7-9 |
| 2021 |
16-8 |
11-5 |
| 2022 |
17-8 |
12-6 |
| 2023 |
19-9 |
12-6 |
| 2024 |
19-7 |
12-4 |
| 2025 |
20-10 |
8-0 |
| Career |
128-74 |
79-46 |
