Longtime Missouri Valley College Men’s Basketball Head Coach Chad Lance has announced he is stepping down from the program.
Lance ’98 has been involved for nearly 30 years with the men’s basketball program, first as a student-athlete then graduate assistant and assistant coach, before becoming the program’s 15th head coach prior to the 2003-04 season. In his first game as head coach, the Vikings set a program-record for single-game points in a 111-78 win over Harris Stowe (Mo.), back on Nov. 7, 2003. That record was broken this past season, in a 119-112 win over Baptist Bible (Mo.) on Nov. 18, 2023.
Lance has set program-records during his time as head coach. His 312 career-wins is most all-time, and more than double of second place Grover C. Redford’s win total of 146, and Lance finishes his career as the longest-tenured head coach for the program, at 22 seasons. Additionally, Lance ranked at No. 25 across the NAIA for most wins by an active head coach entering the 2023-24 season.
As head coach, Lance developed 51 Heart All-Conference selections, including seven first team student-athletes, and two members of the Heart All-Defensive Team. Three of his student-athletes received individual awards from the Heart. Jordan Epps as Freshman of the Year in 2013, Brad Hamilton as Newcomer of the Year in 2014 and Cawhan Smith as Defensive Player of the Year in 2025. Lance also coached eight All-Americans, two Emil S. Liston award finalists and 30 NAIA Scholar Athletes.
Five of his teams were Nationally ranked, including the 2014-15 team which reached as high as No. 16 in the NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Poll. That season also marked the first Heart Postseason Tournament championship in program-history, and earned the team a berth into the NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship for the first time since 1961. Lance led the Vikings to a first round upset for No. 4 overall seed Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.), in a 71-69 victory, before falling to Mid-America Christian (Okla.) in the round of 16, 81-72. The 2014-15 team finished with 22 wins, the third-most in program-history.
“Chad Lance has been a fixture at Missouri Valley and has helped build so many young student-athletes into men,” said Missouri Valley College President Dr. Joe Parisi. “He’s also been a solid leader who built a family atmosphere on his team’s year after year. Coach Lance is the embodiment of what it means to lead with integrity, passion and heart. His legacy at Valley will be felt for years to come. We wish him all the best.”
Lance’s student-athletes hold a number of program-records, including single-game points (45 points by Brody Gronewold against Grand View (Iowa) on Feb. 18, 2017), made three-point shots (9 from both Jace Lance against Baptist Bible (Mo.) on Nov. 11, 2022 and Keenan Jones against Mount Mercy (Iowa) on Jan. 25, 2025), most steals (8 from Cawhan Smith against Maryville (Mo.) on Nov. 25, 2025) and blocked shots (8 from Raviel Burton against Ottawa (Kan.) on Nov. 12, 2013).
Lance coached five student-athletes that reached the 1,000-career point mark. Jarrod Sanderson with 1,349 points from 2000-04, Jace Lance with 1,300 points from 2020-25, Raviel Burton with 1,272 points from 2013-16, Brody Gronewold with 1,059 points from 2015-17 and Damon Collins with 1,035 points from 2005-07.
Career stat leaders include Jace Lance (2020-25) in both field goal attempts (1,294) and assists (507) and Raviel Burton (2013-16) in blocked shots (136). Burton also holds the record for single-season blocked shots (58 in 2013-14) and Cawhan Smith holds the record for single-season steals (101 in 2023-24). Lance’s student-athletes account for a total of 46 placements in the top 10 of single-season stats and 57 placements in the top 10 of career records
Additionally, a member of Lance’s staff, Assistant Coach Ramone Powell, announced his departure from the program. Powell has been with the men’s basketball program for more than 20 years, originally as the first student-athlete recruited by Lance after taking over as head coach. Powell ranks fourth all-time in single-season points (608), was a first team all-conference selection in 2005 and a third team NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball All-American in 2005. He was also inducted into the Missouri Valley College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2024.
https://www.valleywillroll.com/general/2024-25/releases/20250419l44fu0
