It was a sad day in the Roanoke Valley as news spread that we had lost a teacher, a mentor,
a friend, a great man, a father, a husband and a Valley coaching icon. KIPP High's Athletic
Director, football coach, boys and girls basketball coach Diego Hasty passed away Tuesday
night at Wake Med in Raleigh, Coach Hasty had been at Wake Med for test and was admitted
to have more test ran Wednesday morning.
Coach Hasty was a 1977 graduate of Elon University and has been a head coach in North
Carolina for over 35 years. According to Carolinapreps.com his overall record was 208-180-1
which ranked him 18th on the active coaching list when he died.
Weldon High 1978-85 (42-36-1)
Northampton-East 1986-2000 (87-78)
Northampton-West 2002-06 (46-19)
Hertford County 2007-08 (19-7)
Northampton-West 2009-10 (10-14)
KIPP High 2001-13 (4-26)
Coach Hasty led the Northampton-West Hurricanes to the NCHSAA 1A State runner-up
in 2005. It was a pleasure of mine to make that trip and photograph that Game. I have
enjoyed many conversation with coach and had spoken about two weeks ago.
I spent some time at Hasty's fellow coaching friend and neighbor Mike Newsome Wednesday
evening. Newsome says “I am just looking out the window and waiting for my friend to drive up
like he always does. It has been a very emotional day for me today, my friend Hasty helped me
so much in my recovery and now he is gone,” Newsome added.
Newsome had just return from the Hasty house just a few doors down when I arrived. “Hasty's
wife, daughter and Mom are holding up the best they can, Hasty's son is en rout back home
from a work trip,” said Newsome. Visitors and phones calls have been coming all day, all in
shock but sending their regards to Coach Newsome, KIPP and the Hasty's
As I sat there I heard many talk about what a great coach Hasty was and that he was a
gentleman's gentleman. If you beat Hasty on the field or court you beat him, but he pushed
his athletes to the fullest.
RRSPIN's as Coach Hasty's Facebook page filled with comments and showing what he
had meant to them as a coach and a person.
GCP's Athletic Director David Cieslinski said, “ Today was a terrible day foe me and my
KIPP family, I lost a friend, mentor and a colleague who was a great coach! It is so hard to believe.
Ricky Long, who played softball with Hasty for years on Perry Barbecue team
stated, I am gonna miss him."
Ms. Tammi Sutton, KIPP Gaston College Preparatory Executive Director stated,
"The Pride of KIPP Gaston College Preparatory sends our condolences to the Hasty family and
every single student, family, and community member who has bee n inspired and supported by
Coach Diego Hasty. His spirit will continue to live on through the lives of each and every person
who benefited from his kind heart and commitment on and off the courts and fields."
Coach Robert Diego Hasty, 60, of Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, died on July 29, 2014 at Wake Med Medical Center in Raleigh, N.C.
A Visitation for Coach Hasty will be held from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., on Saturday, August 2, 2014, in the Roanoke Rapids location of H.D. Pope Funeral Home. Funeral Services will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, August 3, 2014 at The Centre at Halifax Community College, located at 100 College Drive in Weldon, N.C.
These professional services have been entrusted to H.D. Pope Funeral Home, located at 325 Nash Street in Roanoke Rapids, NC.
I wanted to share just a few photo's of Coach Hasty I have taken over the years.
