{{Short description|American basketball player and coach (1943–2025)}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox college coach | name = Jim Hatfield | image = Jim_Hatfield.jpg | alt = | caption = Hatfield during the 1977–78 season | birth_date = {{birth date|1943|12|28}} | birth_place = Maryville, Tennessee, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2025|02|26|1943|12|28}} | death_place = Lexington, Kentucky, U.S. | alma_mater = | player_years1 = 1963–1966 | player_team1 = East Tennessee State | coach_years1 = 1972–1974 | coach_team1 = Kentucky (assistant) | coach_years2 = 1975–1978 | coach_team2 = Southwestern Louisiana | coach_years3 = 1978–1981 | coach_team3 = Mississippi State | coach_years4 = 1981–1983 | coach_team4 = Hardin–Simmons | coach_years5 = 1983–1985 | coach_team5 = Kentucky (assistant) | overall_record = {{Winning percentage|96|122|record=y}} | bowl_record = | tournament_record = | championships = Southland regular season (1977) | awards = | coaching_records = }}
'''James Malcolm Hatfield'''<ref>{{cite web |title=Obituary information for James Malcolm "Jim" Hatfield |url=https://www.kerrbrothersfuneralhome.com/obituaries/James-Malcolm-Jim-Hatfield?obId=37920342 |access-date=30 October 2025}}</ref> (December 28, 1943 – February 26, 2025) was an American college basketball coach. He was head coach of the Southwestern Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, Mississippi State Bulldogs, and the Hardin–Simmons Cowboys.
==Biography== Hatfield played at East Tennessee State. Following the close of his college career, he joined the coaching ranks. An assistant at Kentucky from 1972 to 1974, he was hired as head coach of the University of Southern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette) in 1975 following a college basketball scandal there. He compiled a record of 47–35 in three seasons and was then hired to coach Mississippi State of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Hatfield coached three seasons for the Bulldogs, ultimately resigning at the end of the 1980–81 season.<ref>{{cite news|title= Hatfield's resignation ends saga at State|url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/81254857/clarion-ledger/|newspaper=The Clarion-Ledger|date=March 11, 1981|page=37|via =Newspapers.com|access-date = July 11, 2021}} {{Open access}}</ref>
He then coached at Hardin–Simmons for two seasons before returning to Kentucky as an assistant.<ref>{{cite news|title= Jim Hatfield returning to Kentucky as Hall assistant|url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/81255550/the-courier-journal/|newspaper=The Courier-Journal|date=August 24, 1983|page=14|via =Newspapers.com|access-date = July 11, 2021}} {{Open access}}</ref>
Hatfield died on February 26, 2025, at the age of 81.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Clay |first1=John |title=Twice a Kentucky basketball assistant under Joe B. Hall, Jim Hatfield dies at 81|url=https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/article301036734.html |website=Lexington Herald-Leader |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref>
==Head coaching record== {{CBB Yearly Record Start|type=coach|conference =|postseason=|poll=both}} {{CBB Yearly Record Subhead | name =Southwestern Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns | conference=Southland Conference | startyear = 1975 | endyear = 1978 }} {{CBB Yearly Record Entry | championship= | season= 1975–76 | name= Southwestern Louisiana | overall= 7–19 | conference= 4–6 | confstanding= 4th | postseason= }} {{CBB Yearly Record Entry | championship = conference | season = 1976–77 | name = Southwestern Louisiana | overall = 21–8 | conference = 8–2 | confstanding = 1st | postseason = }} {{CBB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | season = 1977–78 | name = Southwestern Louisiana | overall = 19–8 | conference = 7–3 | confstanding = 3rd | postseason = }} {{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal | name = Southwestern Louisiana | overall = {{winpct|47|35|record=y}} | confrecord = {{winpct|19|11|record=y}} }} {{CBB Yearly Record Subhead | name = Mississippi State Bulldogs | conference = Southeastern Conference | startyear = 1978 | endyear = 1981 }} {{CBB Yearly Record Entry | season = 1978–79 | name = Mississippi State | overall = 19–9 | conference = 11–7 | confstanding = T–3rd | postseason = }} {{CBB Yearly Record Entry | season = 1979–80 | name = Mississippi State | overall = 13–14 | conference = 7–11 | confstanding = T–6th | postseason = }} {{CBB Yearly Record Entry | season = 1980–81 | name = Mississippi State | overall = 8–19 | conference = 3–15 | confstanding = 10th | postseason = }} {{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal | name = Mississippi State | overall = {{winpct|40|42|record=y}} | confrecord = {{winpct|21|33|record=y}} }} {{CBB Yearly Record Subhead | name = Hardin-Simmons Cowboys | conference = Trans America Athletic Conference | startyear = 1981 | endyear = 1983 }} {{CBB Yearly Record Entry | season = 1981–82 | name = Hardin-Simmons | overall = 6–20 | conference = 2–14 | confstanding = 9th | postseason = }} {{CBB Yearly Record Entry | season = 1982–83 | name = Hardin-Simmons | overall = 3–25 | conference = 1–13 | confstanding = 8th | postseason = }} {{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal | name = Hardin-Simmons | overall = {{winpct|9|45|record=y}} | confrecord = {{winpct|3|27|record=y}} }} {{CBB Yearly Record End | overall = {{winpct|96|122|record=y}} | legend = no }}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/coaches/jim-hatfield-1.html Division I coaching record]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatfield, Jim}} Category:1943 births Category:2025 deaths Category:20th-century American sportsmen Category:American men's basketball coaches Category:American men's basketball players Category:Basketball coaches from Tennessee Category:Basketball players from Tennessee Category:Birmingham–Southern Panthers men's basketball coaches Category:College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Category:East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball players Category:Hardin–Simmons Cowboys basketball coaches Category:Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball coaches Category:Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball coaches Category:Mississippi State Bulldogs men's basketball coaches Category:Sportspeople from Maryville, Tennessee