Kevin Hind Randolph

Kevin Hind’s first experience in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association basketball final four came in 2004.

His oldest son, Tyler, was not even 3 years old when the Hind-coached Randolph boys team made the trip to Glens Falls.

“We were getting ready to go to states and his big thing at that time was pretending to be an announcer,” Hind told The Post-Journal in 2020. “He knew all their numbers and he would do the starting lineup.

“The night before we went to states, we were all sitting around (at home) and we had the starters go into the hall. (Tyler) went into the living room and he led them out and called them out.”

For the next 18 seasons, Hind produced some of the area’s finest teams, but he could never quite get the Cardinals back to Cool Insuring Arena for a shot at a state title.

Finally, in the 2022-23 campaign and after winning his eighth career Section VI crown and the Class C Far West Regional, that opportunity came. But unlike nearly 20 years ago when Randolph lost in the state semifinals, Hind and company didn’t leave disappointed this time.

With Tyler — now a college basketball player — on the bench next to his father as an assistant coach, and his younger son, Drew, joining Carson Conley, Jaiden Huntington and a bunch of determined role players to form the ultimate team, the Cardinals finally captured that state crown, holding off Haldane of Section I 58-55.

And when the horn sounded, the Randolph players piled onto each other on the court. Guess who was at the bottom of the scrum?

Hind.

It was only fitting.

Because there aren’t many coaches anywhere in the Empire State who pour more of their time, energy and talent into hoops like Hind does. He’s as passionate — and knowledgeable — as they come.

Jamestown coach Ben Drake certainly agrees.

The morning of the Cardinals’ state championship game — less than 24 hours after they downed Section IV Moravia in the semifinals despite losing starter Griffin Nelson to injury in the first quarter — Drake tweeted the following:

“So proud of Coach Kevin Hind and @cardshoops1! There isn’t anyone who works harder or deserves it more! Coach Hind is one of the best coaches u will find anywhere in HS basketball!! Passionate, knows the game, team is always prepared, does everything the right way.”

By early evening, and behind eight 3-pointers from Huntington, the Cardinals captured their first boys state hoops championship in school history, which happened to be Hind’s 381st victory since he took over the program from Pat Slater at the start of the 1998-99 campaign.

That’s a ton of wins.

And a ton of memories.

None of them were more memorable than what happened this season.

For that reason, Hind is The Post-Journal/OBSERVER’s 2023 Boys Basketball Coach of the Year.