WKU men’s golf coach Phillip Hatchett was killed after being struck by a car while riding his bike Sunday.

Hatchett was 55. He was the head coach of the men’s team for eight years, and was a 1985 WKU graduate and four-year letterman on the golf team. 

“Our hearts are broken following the tragic passing of Phillip Hatchett,” athletics director Todd Stewart said in a release. “He was an outstanding individual in every respect, a kind soul liked and respected by all and someone who cared deeply for his players whom he considered family. Phillip exhibited pure class in everything he did. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Beth, and the entire Hatchett family.”

Hatchett was cycling in Logan County with a group of six traveling west in the emergency lane on U.S. 68, according to the Bowling Green Daily News when he was struck by a vehicle at 7:24 a.m. 

Hatchett was hit by Robert D. Stokes, 27, of Elkton. Stokes was driving a 1995 Jeep Cherokee, and hit Hatchett, who was the rear cyclist in the group, before he could check his mirrors and get over into the left lane, according to the Daily News. 

Three cyclists were also injured in the accident, including Morris Lynn Kisselbaugh, 62, Phillip C. Christmas, 28, and Patrick L. Christmas, 26, all of Russellville, according to the Daily News.

In the 2017-18 season, Hatchett’s team had five top-five performances, and put up their conference tournament round since 2008. 

During his time as head coach, Hatchett’s team won the Academic Team of the Year award three times by having the top cumulative grade point average of any men’s sports team at WKU (2012-13, 2017-17 and 2017-18). 

Arrangements have been made for Hatchett’s service and celebration of life. A visitation will be held on Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at First Baptist Church in Russellville. There will be a celebration of life at 2 p.m.

{{tncms-inline account=”Todd Stewart” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Phillip was an outstanding individual in every respect, a kind soul liked and respected by all who cared deeply for his players whom he considered family. Phillip exhibited pure class in everything he did. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Beth, and their family. <a href="https://t.co/vxYQztLz2F">https://t.co/vxYQztLz2F</a></p>— Todd Stewart (@ToddStewartWKU) <a href="https://twitter.com/ToddStewartWKU/status/1008442189679136768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2018</a></blockquote>” id=”https://twitter.com/ToddStewartWKU/status/1008442189679136768″ type=”twitter”}}

{{tncms-inline account=”Adam Gary, PGA” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I'm going to miss my coworker and friend. He was a selfless person who helped me tremendously when I was a new coach. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RIP?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RIP</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BetterPlace?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BetterPlace</a></p>— Adam Gary, PGA (@WKUWomensGolf) <a href="https://twitter.com/WKUWomensGolf/status/1008461366221516806?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2018</a></blockquote>” id=”https://twitter.com/WKUWomensGolf/status/1008461366221516806″ type=”twitter”}}

{{tncms-inline account=”Tim Caboni” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A tragic loss for the <a href="https://twitter.com/wku?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WKU</a> family today. Keeping Coach Hatchett’s family, members of the golf team and all of <a href="https://twitter.com/WKUSports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WKUSports</a> in my thoughts and prayers this afternoon. <a href="https://t.co/ZyxVerbCfE">https://t.co/ZyxVerbCfE</a></p>— Tim Caboni (@caboni) <a href="https://twitter.com/caboni/status/1008442583914295298?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2018</a></blockquote>” id=”https://twitter.com/caboni/status/1008442583914295298″ type=”twitter”}}

Sports Editor Jeremy Chisenhall can be reached at 270-745-6291 and [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @JSChisenhall.