University of Central Missouri Interim Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Kathy Anderson announced Thursday, March 23, that Adam Bohac has been hired as the 25th head coach in the 118-year history of Mules Basketball.
Anderson will officially introduce Bohac at a press conference inside the UCM Multipurpose Building on Wednesday, March 29, at 1:30 p.m.
“Coach Bohac has been a proven winner and a phenomenal leader throughout his impressive career as a basketball coach,” Anderson said. “He has mentored his players to success not only on the basketball court, but also in the classroom and community. The UCM Athletics family is ecstatic to have Adam and his family join us.”
Bohac (pronounced Bo-hawch) arrives in Warrensburg after serving as the head coach at Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, Okla., for 15 seasons.
“My family and I are thrilled to be joining the University of Central Missouri and Warrensburg community,” Bohac said. “We are thankful to Dr. [Roger] Best, Kathy Anderson and Coach [Kim] Anderson for their trust in us and look forward to working together and learning from them as we build and grow on the great tradition and national brand that is Central Missouri basketball. I can’t wait to join the athletic department, connect with the returning players and outstanding alumni, and get to work!”
In his time at SNU, Bohac compiled an impressive resume, posting a 312-146 overall record and leading the Storm to four Great American Conference (GAC) Regular Season Championships, two GAC Conference Tournament Titles and four NCAA Division II Regional appearances since Southern Nazarene became a full-time NCAA Division II member in 2014.
This season (2022-23), he coached SNU to an overall record of 27-5 and a 21-1 conference tally as the Storm captured the GAC regular season crown and advanced all the way to the NCAA Division II Central Region Championship game. Southern Nazarene’s run to the regional title game included defeating three-time defending National Champion Northwest Missouri State in the regional semifinals, 61-57, in front of a sellout crowd at Bearcat Arena in Maryville, Mo. The Storm’s 27 wins ranked 10th nationally and the 21 conference victories were the most by any NCAA Division II institution.
While competing in the Central Region, which has produced six of the last eight NCAA-II National Champions, Southern Nazarene ranks only behind Northwest Missouri State and Northern State in wins since the 2017-18 season. In that same window, SNU has the eighth-most wins nationally with 139 and has won 102 conference games, which is third nationally.
Since joining the Great American Conference, Bohac has been named the conference’s coach of the year four times and coached one Division II All-American, three conference players of the year, five defensive players of the year, two newcomers of the year, one freshman of the year, 12 first-team all-conference honorees and 25 all-conference selection.
Under Bohac’s guidance, Southern Nazarene has achieved a GAC-best 159 conference wins (27 more than any conference opponent). The 216 total wins since joining the NCAA Division II ranks is 38 more than any other GAC institution. Since the 2012-13 season, Bohac’s program has a league-best 68.5 percent conference winning percentage, 66.9 percent overall winning percentage, 77.1 percent home winning percentage and 59.8 percent road winning percentage.
SNU set the record for single-season conference victories twice under Bohac with 21 GAC wins in 2017-18 and 2022-23.
He has also led SNU to outstanding success in the classroom, as the Storm have a 96.2 percent graduation rate among players exhausting eligibility since joining Division II. Bohac has coached 17 conference all-academic award winners, eight Daktronics Scholar-Athletes, three GAC Elite Scholars and one Crafton Tull Scholar Athlete Award honoree, the highest academic honor given out in the Great American Conference.
Prior to Southern Nazarene joining NCAA Division II, Bohac led SNU to three NAIA national tournament appearances from 2009-12 and coached five NAIA All-Americans.
Before becoming the head coach for the Storm, Bohac served as an assistant coach at Army West Point in 2007-08 and was an assistant coach at Southern Nazarene from 2004-07.
Bohac played basketball at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln from 2000-04 and was a four-year letterwinner under head coach Barry Collier, the current Director of Athletics at Butler University in Indianapolis, Ind. He was an Academic All-Big 12 first team selection in 2004, Nebraska’s Most Outstanding Attitude Award winner in 2003 and 2004 and was a Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll recipient five times.
He graduated from Nebraska with a bachelor’s degree in finance in 2004 and earned a Master of Business Administration from Southern Nazarene in 2006.
Bohac is from Kimball, Neb., and was an All-State basketball and football player at Kimball High School. He graduated from Kimball in 2000.
“We are incredibly grateful to have Coach Bohac join the University of Central Missouri,” UCM President Dr. Roger Best said. “He is a man of integrity who has demonstrated the ability to build a championship-caliber program while ensuring academic and professional achievements for his players. We look forward to embracing his family and supporting him as our newest colleague.”
Bohac and his wife, Christie, have two sons, Anderson and Addison, and two daughters, Abigail and Adleigh.
