About Big Time Hoops

Matt Abney is the owner/director of Big Time Hoops basketball. He is entering his 3rd season as the Head Girls basketball coach at Centennial HS in Las Cruces, NM. He took over the Lady Hawks program in June of 2022 after a brief three year retirement. In his 1st season, his Hawks were District 3-5A champions while reaching the state quarterfinals.  He was named District 3-5A Coach of the Year.

Abney retired in the spring of 2019 after 14 successful seasons as the head girls coach at Las Cruces High School. Along with directing Big Time Hoops, in the fall of 2019, Abney started a club basketball team called New Mexico Flash that travels to NCAA-certified events. NM Flash is also a grassroots program for girls in grades 5-8.  

In Abney's has 14 seasons as head coach of the Bulldawgs, he built the LCHS basketball program into one of the finest in the state. In those fourteen seasons, his Bulldawgs won 276 games. His 2008 2010, 2016, and 2018 teams played their way to the State Final Four in Albuquerque. The 2018 team tied a school record of 26 wins, tying the old mark of 26 set back in 2010. Coach Abney is the winningest coach in LCHS history with a record of 267-138. On five separate occasions (2006, 2007, 2010, 2015, 2023) he has been named district 3-5A Coach of the Year. After the completion of the 2008 and 2018 State Final Four seasons, he was selected to coach in the North/South All-Star games. Also, in the summer of 2014 Coach Abney was a guest speaker at the 70th Annual New Mexico High School Coaches Association Coaching Clinic.  

Not only have Coach Abney’s teams had tremendous success, but many individual awards have also been given to the Lady Bulldawgs and Hawks, as well. In fifteen seasons under the direction of Coach Abney and his coaching staff, 55 players have made the All-District team. On seven different occasions, a player was named the District 3-5A Player of the Year. Also, in that time, there have been 25 south All-Stars, eleven All-State selections, and seventeen different Bulldawgs/Hawks that signed a college scholarship.  

In 1998-99, Coach Abney spent a year as a men’s assistant coach at New Mexico Highlands University while completing his Master’s Degree in Sports Administration.  

Coach Abney and his wife Karen are natives of Las Vegas, NM. They have two daughters, Alyssa, 27, and Sarah, 24. Sarah recently finished her playing career at Division I, Sacramento State University.

Sarah Abney just completed her second season as the Director of Volleyball Operations at UC Davis, in Davis, California. The Aggies are a Division I program and compete in the Big West Conference.

Since Sarah was a little girl, she was destined to be a part of Big Time Hoops. As a young girl, she would stuff the players' bags with their jerseys, t-shirts and player booklets. In 2013, as a 7th grader, she was a last-minute replacement in the Showcase. She played well, even scoring 23 points in one game. Now that her collegiate career as Sacramento State is over, she will be co-director of Big Time Hoops events.

HIGH SCHOOL:  Scored 1,484 points in four seasons and is the second-highest scorer Las Cruces' program history...Has 212 career made 3-pointers. As a senior, averaged 14.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game while leading her team to the New Mexico Final Four...Was named All-State 1st team...Was also named the 2017-18 Las Cruces Sun-News Female Athlete of the Year and a 2018 USA Today All-USA New Mexico first team selection...As a junior, averaged 14.9 points per game and led her team in scoring, rebounding, assists, deflections, steals, and charges taken while also leading her volleyball team to a state runner-up finish...named All-State 2nd team As a sophomore was named All-State 2nd team...was the LCPS Holiday Hoopla Tournament MVP in 2016 & 2017. She was also a volleyball standout earning All-District 3 times, and was an All-State 2nd team selection )Setter) in 2017 & 2017.

Senior Season at Sacramento State (2021-22): Missed the entire season due to shoulder surgery from an injury suffered in July... Served as Assistant Director of Basketball Operations for the Hornets.

Junior Season at Sacramento State (2020-21): Big Sky All-Academic (2x)...After missing her sophomore due to injury, made her return in impressive fashion, appearing in all 25 games for Sacramento State in 2020-21, just one of four players to see time in every game of the season...Started 24 of those 25 games, second most on the team...Was one of seven players to appear in at least 20 games and one of just three to start at least 20 games...Averaged 8.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.6 three-pointers, and 29.1 minutes per game...Abney's 29.1 minutes per game was a career-high, shattering her previous high of 13.8, and was second on the team...Was one of four players to average better than 25 minutes per game... Finished with 39-made 3's, which led the team...Scored a season and career-high 17 points twice in back-to-back games against #1 Idaho State on Jan. 14 and 16...Was a combined 13-for-28 (46.4%) overall and 6-for-17 (35.3%) from range in those two games...Scored in double figures in 11 of her 25 games, including four straight from Jan. 9 through Jan. 21...Made a career-best five triples (5-11) on the road at Weber State on Feb. 25...Collected a career-high nine rebounds on March 3 at home against Montana...Had five or more rebounds in 10 games...Averaged 29.1 minutes, a new career-high, and played a career-high 36:26 against Nevada on Dec. 13 in The Nest...Eclipsed 20 minutes in 24 of 25 games...Saw 30 or more minutes in 12 of 25 games.

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