The Truett-McConnell College Department of Athletics announced Jon Yeh as Head Men’s Basketball Coach, Thursday April 17.
"After a national search resulting in over 100 applicants, we have identified the man to take over the reins of our men’s basketball program," said Truett-McConnell College’s Director of Athletics Dr. Stacy Hall. "Jon Yeh will be a spiritual mentor and a role model for our young people and has a proven record of supporting academics and community service."
Having coached teams in three consecutive National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) National Tournament appearances and one Final Four appearance, "Yeh is a proven winner" Hall added. "This strategic hire is another example of how Truett-McConnell athletics is committed to winning championships in discipleship, academics, community service, and athletic performance."
A current resident of Winona Lake, Ind., Yeh has been the Associate Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Grace College from 1999-2006 and 2009-present. In his tenure with the Lancers, Yeh coached and recruited players who led Grace to eight consecutive national tournament appearances, including an NAIA Division II Final Four in 2013 and Elite Eight finishes in 2008 and 2009, won the program’s first-ever Mid-Central College Conference (MCC) tournament championship, shared the MCC regular season title for the first time since 1993, and was ranked as high as number four nationally. Yeh recruited and coached five players who earned eleven NAIA All-American or Honorable Mention awards and during the Lancers 2002-03 and 2013-14 seasons, both units finished as runner-up in the National Christian College Athletic Association’s (NCCAA) Division I National Tournament. Also in 2003, Yeh was named Indiana Basketball News NAIA Assistant Coach of the Year.
From 2006-2009, Yeh served as the Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, Mass. During both the 2009 season, the team achieved its best record and most conference wins in seven seasons and earned The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) Sportsmanship Team of the Year Awards in 2007 and 2009. Yeh coached two players to TCCC All-Conference and Honorable Mention status as well as recruited players who earned three TCCC Rookie of the Week Honors in his final two seasons.
During his time in Quincy, Yeh founded South Shore Basketball Academy where he directed all aspects of boys and girls day camps that saw a 106 percent increase in campers from year one to year three and grew to become the largest basketball camp in Quincy.
Yeh acted as an assistant coach to the boys’ basketball team at Heritage High School in Monroeville, Ind., in 1994-95 and from 1996-99. He served as the varsity assistant coach for one year, the head freshman coach for one year, and the head junior varsity coach for two years. He achieved an overall head coaching record of 37-18 in three seasons, helped coach a varsity team ranked as high as number three in the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) 2A poll in 1998-99, and assisted in leading a varsity team to 2A Semi-State in 1998, two games from the State Finals.
Yeh graduated from Taylor University in Fort Wayne, Ind., with a B.A. in Public Relations, and received his M.A. in Physical Education from Ball State University in Muncie, Ind.
Actively involved in his local community, Yeh is a volunteer for the Northern Indiana Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Kosciusko Lakes and Streams and is very active in ministry at Winona Lake Grace Brethren Church. He was a team member of the Eastern Nazarene College Council for Community Responsibility and ENC Way Committee, and was the leader for ENC’s Fellowship of Christian Athlete’s huddle. He is a past member of the Grace College President’s Administrative Cabinet and has participated in and directed a number of youth sports camps.
"I am definitely excited to join the Truett-McConnell community and look forward to working with Coach Fields and each of the members of the men’s basketball team," Yeh told TMCSports. "I want to express my gratitude to Dr. Hall, Mr. Eppling, Dr. Reynolds, Dr. Caner, and others for extending this opportunity to me to work in such an emerging Christian college."
"The challenge is simple," he added. "I want to help our men follow Christ as they pursue their career calling and serve their families, churches and communities. And I am very fortunate, because I get to accomplish this through the game of basketball. At the same time, I want our men to compete as hard as they can on the court so that we can lay the foundation to build Truett-McConnell into a nationally competitive men’s basketball program."
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