Dana Ford (born June 9, 1984)
Current position: Head men’s basketball coach
Current team: Missouri State Bears
Current conference: Missouri Valley Conference (MVC)
Tennessee State record: 57-65 (.467)
Missouri State record: 89-66 (.574)
Overall record: 146-131 (.527)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 0
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 0
- NIT Championships: 0
- NIT Appearances: 1 (2022)
- CIT Appearances: 1 (2016)
- Missouri Valley Regular Season Champion: 0
- Missouri Valley Tournament Champion: 0
Awards:
- Ben Jobe Award: 1 (2016)
- Ohio Valley Coach of the Year: 1 (2016)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
| 2018-present | Missouri State |
| 2014-2018 | Tennessee State |
| 2011-2014 | Illinois State (asst) |
| 2011-2012 | Wichita State (asst) |
| 2009-2011 | Tennessee State (asst) |
| 2008-2009 | Chipola JC (asst) |
| 2006-2008 | Winthrop (grad asst) |
Dana Ford Facts
- Dana Ford
- Born June 9, 1984
- Hometown: Tamms, Illinois
- Alma Mater: Illinois State University (BS, 2006)
- Played for Tom Richardson and Porter Moser at Illinois State after a stellar career at Egyptian Senior High School in Tamms, IL
- Spent two years as a grad assistant at Winthrop under Gregg Marshall and Randy Peele
- Peele would later serve as one of Ford’s assistants during his tenure as head coach at TSU
- After one year as an assistant at Chipola College (FL), Ford joined John Cooper‘s staff at Tennessee State as an assistant
- Spent one year as an assistant under Marshall at Wichita State and three at Illinois State, one under Tim Jankovich and two under Dan Muller
- Became the TSU head coach in 2014; the Tigers won just 5 games in the season before Ford’s arrival, then did the same under Ford in 2014-15
- Ford was able to quickly turn the program around, improving from 5 wins to 20 wins and a CIT berth in 2016
- As a result of his success, Ford was awarded the Ohio Valley Coach of the Year award and was honored with the 2016 Ben Jobe Award, recognizing the nation’s top minority head coach in Division I
- Hired in March 2018 to be the new head coach of the Missouri State Bears
- Is 89-66 through fivee seasons at the helm, including a 23-11 record and NIT bid in 2021-22
- Along with his wife, Christina, has two sons and one daughter
Dana Ford Coaching Tree
- Corey Gipson (Northwestern State)
