Lynn Nance
Lynn Nance (born September 3, 1942)
Teams coached: Iowa State Cyclones, Central Missouri State Mules, Saint Mary’s Gaels, Washington Huskies
Iowa State record: 41-58 (.414)
Central Missouri record^: 114-35 (.765)
Saint Mary’s record: 61-27 (.693)
Washington record: 50-62 (.446)
Overall record^: 266-182 (.594)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 0
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 1 (1989)
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 0
- NIT Championships: 0
- NIT Appearances: 0
- WCC Regular Season Champion: 1 (1989)
- MIAA (Div II) Regular Season Champion: 3 (1981, 1984, 1985)
- NCAA Division II National Championships: 1 (1984)
- NCAA Division II Tournament Appearances: 5 (1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985)
- NCAA Division II Tournament Final Four: 1 (1984)
Awards:
- WCC Coach of the Year: 1 (1989)
- NABC Div II Coach of the Year: 1 (1984)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
2010-2011 | LSU (asst) |
1989-1993 | Washington |
1986-1989 | Saint Mary’s |
1985-1986 | Fresno State (asst) |
1980-1985 | Central Missouri State |
1976-1980 | Iowa State |
1974-1976 | Kentucky (asst) |
1967-1970 | Washington (asst) |
Lynn Nance Facts
- Lynn Sanford Nance
- Born September 3, 1942
- Hometown: Granby, Missouri
- Alma Mater: University of Washington (BA, 1965)
- After starting at Southwest Baptist (MO), Nance spent two seasons playing at Washington for head coach Mac Duckworth
- Drafted by the St. Louis Hawks in 1965, but injury kept him from ever playing in the NBA
- Returned to his alma mater in 1967, spending one season working for Duckworth and two for Tex Winter
- Spent two seasons as an assistant under Joe B. Hall at Kentucky, during which time the Wildcats were NCAA Runner-Up (1975) and NIT Champions (1976)
- Became the head coach at Iowa State in 1976, going 40-59 over four seasons at the helm
- Resigned in 1980 with six games left in the Cyclones’ season
- Arguably his most successful coaching tenure was at D-II Central Missouri State
- Nance went 114-35 in five seasons there, going to the NCAA Tournament every season and leading the Mules to a D-II NCAA Championship crown in 1984
- Moved back up the D-I game in 1985 as an assistant to Boyd Grant at Fresno State
- Was then head coach at Saint Mary’s, compiling a 61-27 record in three years and reaching the 1989 NCAA Tournament
- Returned to his alma mater again in 1989, this time to be the Huskies’ head coach
- Went 50-62 overall, failing to reach the postseason or finish above .500 in any of his four seasons
- Spent the next 15 or so years out of coaching, spending some of that time as an assistant director for the NCAA
- Also worked as a special agent in the FBI and wrote a fiction novel drawing from that experience
- Returned to coaching for one final season in 2010, working as an assistant under Trent Johnson at LSU
Lynn Nance Coaching Tree
- Ricky Byrdsong (Northwestern, Detroit Mercy)
- David Carter (Nevada)
- Mark Fox (California, Georgia, Nevada)
- Trent Johnson (Cal State Northridge, TCU, LSU, Stanford, Nevada)
- Mark Pope (BYU, Utah Valley)
- Rick Samuels (Iowa State, Eastern Illinois)
- Jim Wooldridge (UC Riverside, Kansas State, Louisiana Tech, Southwest Texas State, Central Missouri State)
^ overall record includes head coaching positions at both the NCAA Division I and Division II levels