For the first time in 20
years, there will be a new head coach
roaming the sidelines for the Mount Vernon
Nazarene University men’s basketball team
when the 2009-2010 season tips off as Matt
Moore takes over as the ninth head coach in
the program’s 41-year history. Moore comes
to MVNU after spending four years as the top
assistant coach at Grace College in Winona
Lake, Ind.
During
Moore’s time with the Lancers, the program
posted a 95-44 record and made back-to-back
trips to the Elite Eight in the NAIA
National Tournament in 2008 and 2009. The
team posted three consecutive 20-win seasons
during that span and also finished as the
National Christian College Athletic
Association National Tournament runner-up
twice in 2003 and 2007.
In addition to coaching at Grace, Moore
was an assistant varsity coach at Logansport
High School from 2003-2006 where he worked
under Indiana High School Hall of Fame Coach
Al Rhodes, and he served as an assistant
coach for the McDonald’s All-American Team
in 2005 when the game was played in South
Bend, Ind. He has also taken his knowledge
of the game of basketball overseas and has
worked with players and coaches in France,
Germany, and Kenya as part of missions trips
that he has taken.
Moore graduated from Grace in 2002 with a
degree in Secondary Education. As a
four-year starter for the Lancers, he dished
out 660 career assists, which still ranks
fourth in program history. He also compiled
the fifth-highest single-season assist total
with 242 for an average of 7.2 per game. He
went on get a master’s degree in Physical
Education at Ball State University.
“I am extremely excited about the
opportunity to join an institution like
Mount Vernon Nazarene University,” said
Moore. “To be named the head men’s
basketball coach is an honor, and to now be
included in such a long tradition of
basketball experience is humbling. I feel
that the Lord has called us to MVNU as we
continue our mission to further His Kingdom
through the game of basketball.”
Moore
takes over a program that has posted a
297-125 record (.704 winning percentage)
over the past 13 seasons while topping the
20-win mark in 12 of them. The Cougars have
also earned eight berths in the NAIA
Division II National Tournament during that
span including four in a row for the first
time ever from 2006-2009. MVNU captured the
NCCAA national title in 2002 and finished as
the NCCAA runner-up in 2004. The Cougars
also won three American Mideast Conference
Tournament titles and the program’s only two
regular-season conference titles during that
span as well as consistently receiving votes
in the NAIA Division II poll.
Moore and his wife, Anna, reside in Mount
Vernon and the couple is expecting their
first child in November. In addition to
coaching, Moore also teaches in the Physical
Education Department.