Veteran football coach and athletic administrator Diego Hasty died suddenly of a heart attack on Tuesday at the age of 60.

         He had been serving as head football coach and athletic director at KIPP Pride in Gaston in Northampton County. He also coached basketball there.

         His career had been spent primarily in the northeastern portion of the state. His coaching stops included Weldon, Northampton-East for 15 seasons,  two stints at Northampton-West, Hertford County and KIPP Pride. He guided Northampton-West to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 1-A football championship game in 2005, where his team lost to Elkin.

         Hasty won more than 200 games during his career as a head coach, which spanned over 35 years. He was a 1977 graduate of Elon and had been an outstanding athlete in high school at Northampton High.

         A visitation for Coach Hasty will be held from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., on Saturday, August 2, in the Roanoke Rapids location of H.D. Pope Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday at The Centre at Halifax Community College, located at 100 College Drive in Weldon.