"My experience at MVNU has been extremely rewarding,” said Flemming. "As a student and an employee, I have now been here about half of my lifetime. MVNU has made a profound impact on who I am today and I hope I have been able to give back and make a difference as well. I have been privileged to develop such great relationships with our coaches, my players, and all the many people who have been connected with our university through the years. Our family has been blessed to be a part of MVNU and this local community and now we go on to a new chapter in our lives.”

"I now have the opportunity to take on a new challenge at this time in my career,” Flemming added. "It wasn’t something I pursued, but when I was offered the position I felt like I needed to be open. It was important to me that my family was on board, and we all now feel like this is where God is leading us. I still have a passion for coaching and this will allow me to take my experience to a higher level. I am not sure where this will all lead, but I have always believed that if I just try to do the best I can wherever God has place me that things will work out well. I also view this as a different ministry opportunity to be salt and light in the world.”

The NBA D-League, founded in 2001, is the NBA’s official minor league and features 18 teams with direct affiliations to NBA teams. There were 84 former NBA D-League players on NBA end-of-season rosters in 2008-2009, which amounted to almost 20 percent of all players in the NBA.

The Frisco team, which does not have a mascot yet, is owned by Donnie Nelson and Evan Wyly. Nelson is the president and general manager of the Mavericks. They have already hired Nancy Lieberman, widely considered one of the most influential figures in women’s basketball history, to be the first female head coach of an NBA or NBA D-League team. Lieberman, who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1996, played professionally in both men’s and women’s leagues, has coached in the WNBA, and worked as a basketball analyst for ESPN from 1981-2009.

Former NBA head coach Del Harris was hired as the team’s first general manager, while former NBA star and Slam Dunk Contest champion Spud Webb was hired as the president of basketball operations.

Flemming, who returned to his alma mater in 1990, guided the MVNU men’s basketball team to a 397-226 record over 19 seasons for a .637 winning percentage. The Cougars won 20 or more games in 13 of his final 15 seasons and advanced to the NAIA Division II National Tournament eight times under his leadership including a school-record four times in a row in his final four seasons. The program was consistently ranked in the NAIA Top 25 year in and year out, and MVNU finished No. 12 with a 23-9 record in his final season. The Cougars won three American Mideast Conference Tournament titles and earned the program’s first two regular-season conference titles, and Flemming also guided the program to the National Christian College Athletic Association national title in 2002 and an NCCAA national runner-up finish in 2004. For his efforts, he has earned two National Coach of the Year honors (NAIA Division II in 1998 and NCCAA in 2000). He was also the Mid-Ohio Conference Coach of the Year in 1995 and 1998, and he was inducted into the Cougar Wall of Fame in 2009.

"Scott Flemming has played a vital role on the campus of Mount Vernon Nazarene University over the past 20 years,” said Lanette Sessink, MVNU’s vice president for Student Development. "He has also touched the lives of a number of people in the surrounding community. He will be greatly missed by students, faculty, staff, administrators, and community friends.”

"Although I have only had the opportunity to work with Scott for the past year and a half, I have seen the talents he displayed as well as the respect he received during his tenure at MVNU,” Sessink continued. "I am grateful to have worked side-by-side with him. I only wish our time did not have to end so quickly. He has been given a great opportunity, though, to work with Nancy Lieberman and the Dallas Mavericks. Although we will be losing a tremendous co-worker and friend, I know Scott will play a huge role in the lives of the players in the Mavericks’ organization. We all wish him the very best.”

Flemming will continue his duties as MVNU’s athletic director until sometime in May before relocating to the Dallas area. He will join former MVNU basketball player and assistant coach Mike Wells as the second former Cougar to coach in the NBA. Wells is currently in his 16th year in the NBA overall and his first season as an assistant coach for the Washington Wizards.