CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas has chosen Jay Rees to head its men's golf program, according to Dr. Brad Teague, director of athletics.

Rees has more than 30 years of head coaching experience at the collegiate level, beginning in the fall of 1989. He has been a head coach at UT Arlington, McMurry University, Texas Lutheran, Emporia (Kan.) State and New Mexico Junior College, and an assistant at Arizona State, Louisiana State and Scottsdale Community College.

"Coach Rees stood out from our candidates due to his vast NCAA Division I experience and his quality relationships in the industry," said Teague. "Coach Rees has a great ability to connect with our student-athletes and with potential new student-athletes. He is a players' coach and will encourage and support them toward great success. 

"Coach Rees will ensure we have quality young men in our program for years to come. We are excited to add this great head coach to our staff."

Rees comes to UCA after highly successful stints at McMurry (2015-22), UTA (1999-2015) and Texas Lutheran (1996-99). He was a three-time Southland Conference Coach of the Year and one-time co-Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year at UTA and qualified teams for the NCAA Regionals seven times and also had five individual qualifiers. He is the all-time winningest coach at UTA with at least 10 years of service where he coached three NCAA All-Americans (Zack Fischer, Bobby Massa, Paul McConnell)

  His two championship teams competed in regionals at Stanford, Calif., and Austin, Texas. His five teams that drew at-large bids played in Little Rock, Ark., Cleveland, Ohio, Columbus, Ohoi, Tucson, Ariz., and Athens, Ga. The individuals who earned at-large bids competed in Victoria, Texas (Adam Babb), Stillwater, Okla. (Shad Muth), Manhattan, Kan. (Anthyony Estorga), San Diego, Calif. (Zack Fischer) and Fayetteville, Ark. (Paul McConnell).

At McMurry, Rees coached a Southwest Regional championship team and a runnerup and was the NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association) Southwest Regional Coach of the year twice. At Texas Lutheran, he had the No. 1-ranked NAIA women's team in the nation in 1999 and the NAIA individual champion in Elizabeth Hoffman.

At his most recent stop. Rees coached the No. 1-ranked NJCAA team and player in the nation at New Mexico Junior College.

  "My wife & I practice the mindset of, better days are yet to come, and accepting the position of men's head golf coach at UCA, my days just got better," said Rees, who played collegiately at Emporia State. "I am excited to implement this mindset in my team, as it will form more confident players, on and off the course. 

"Conway and UCA both left an impression on me as one big family, in which I'm extremely thankful for. Having the support of the President, Dr. Houston Davis, the Athletic Director, Dr. Brad Teague,  and the leadership team at UCA is critical in building a championship team.

"Working with our women's head coach, Summar Roachell, both programs are in an awesome position to win championships, create Top 50 programs, and graduate all of our student-athletes with a great education."