Trevecca Nazarene University athletic director Mark Elliott hired Omar Mance to lead the Trojan basketball program on June 1, 2018, but following last week’s road trip, the two mutually agreed to part ways. Further, Coach Mance felt it best, for the staff and team, for it to be effective immediately.
TNU is currently 1-18 (0-13 GMAC) on the season. After winning their opening game of the season, they have now dropped 18 straight.
Athletic Director Mark Elliott said of the Omar Mance era, “Our Christian-Scholar-Athlete philosophy actually puts more pressure on coaches. Not only do they have to be athletically competitive, they are tasked with motivating our athletes academically while also enriching them spiritually. Omar did a great job with the culture of our Men’s Basketball program. He took the Trevecca basketball program out into the community and brought the community into the Trevecca Fieldhouse. Mentoring players to become better men and leading young coaches to understand the bigger picture of athletics were areas Omar excelled.”
Current assistant Alex Huisman will lead the program for the remainder of the season on an interim basis.
The Trojans have seven games remaining, with six of those coming at Trojan Fieldhouse.
Omar Mance said, “Over the last five years I have been able to live out my dream as a college head coach at Trevecca. I’m incredibly thankful to Dr. Dan Boone and Mark Elliott for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to live out my biggest dreams – Ephesians 3:20.”
“I was called to change the culture of our program with Christian-Scholar first and then Athlete(s) as our focus. We accomplished that at an extremely high level. The young men in our program are amazing models of faith and integrity on campus and have truly been transformed as believers and Godly men (Christian). The academic excellence over my time here is historic with a 100% graduation rate, nine consecutive semesters with a 3.0 team GPA, and 20+ players making the Dean’s List and Academic All-Conference.”
Mance, the ninth men’s basketball coach at Trevecca, was the assistant at Rice University, his alma mater. He had returned to Rice after serving as an assistant for Bryce Drew at Vanderbilt University.
Mance earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Rice in 2003.
He and his wife, Rebecca (Bec), have one son, Zion.
Mance concluded, “I’m proud of how God used our staff and my family to transform these men and this program and I’m excited for it to take the next step on the court. My family, Bec and Zion, are so thankful for the Trevecca community and all the players, who are family to us for life. We are equally excited about the next step and assignment God has for us. Though hard to leave, we are thankful for the amazing time we had at Trevecca!! We will always be Trojans.”
https://www.tnutrojans.com/sports/mbkb/2022-23/releases/20230130sogee5
