Nan Carney-DeBord won 433 games as women's
basketball coach at Ohio Wesleyan and will be succeeded
by Stacey Ungashick Reed, right. Ohio Wesleyan photos |
Denison announced today that Nan Carney-DeBord, a 1980 Denison graduate and a member of the school's Athletics Hall of Fame, has been named as the college's athletic director, physical education and recreation.
Carney-DeBord, who has spent the past 25 years as the women's basketball coach at Ohio Wesleyan, will start her new job July 1. OWU assistant coach Stacey Ungashick Reed will become interim head coach of the Battling Bishop team for the 2011-12 season and a coaching search will take place following the season.
About Carney-DeBord, Bateman said, "We are thrilled that Nan, one of Denison's own, is coming home to direct our athletics, physical education and recreation programs. Her wealth of experience and her proven record of fostering excellence in both academics and athletics make her uniquely suited for leading one of the premier NCAA Division III sports programs in the nation."
Carney-DeBord will begin her duties effective July 1, 2011,
succeeding Larry Scheiderer, who will assume the role of director
of athletics operations after 20 years as AD. She also will serve
as the faculty chair of the college's department of physical
education.
Carney-DeBord returns to her alma mater after spending 25 years at
Ohio Wesleyan as head women's basketball coach and on the faculty
of the department of physical education. Since the 1986-87
basketball season, Carney-DeBord has posted a career record of
433-227 while guiding the Bishops to six NCAA Division III
Tournament berths and five North Coast Athletic Conference
championships. A seven-time NCAC Coach of the Year, Carney-DeBord
was named the WBCA Division III National Coach of the Year
following her team's run to the 2001 national semifinals.
"Under Nan’s leadership, the Ohio Wesleyan women’s basketball team has never had a losing season," said Roger Ingles, OWU athletic director. "On and off the court, Nan is a great mentor, physical education teacher, leader, and friend. We will miss her talent, and we will miss her as a person. A journey that began for Nan as an undergraduate student at Denison University was destined for her to return to lead Denison’s athletic, recreation, and physical education programs."
Enthusiastic about beginning her new role at Denison, Carney-DeBord said, "My life's work has prepared me for this wonderful opportunity. I am coming full circle from my undergraduate choice of institutions to this next chapter in my professional career. Denison's affiliation with the North Coast Athletic Conference is of fundamental importance, as I believe the NCAC is the quintessential athletic conference in Division III.
"I welcome the challenge of continuing the athletic prominence
that preceded me long before I was a student-athlete and has
continued to the present time. I reach out to all former, current
and future athletes, coaches, and staff with the challenge of
embracing, maintaining, and continuing to advance Denison’s
athletic excellence."
Carney-DeBord returns to Denison where she was a four-year letter
winner in basketball and field hockey. A wing and point guard in
basketball, she was team captain and was named the team's Most
Valuable Player as a senior. As a back on the Denison field hockey
squad, she was a three-year captain and helped lead the 1979 team
to a 12-3-1 record. In 1998, she was inducted in the Varsity D
Association Athletics Hall of Fame at Denison. In addition to her
bachelor's degree in physical education from Denison, Carney-DeBord
earned a master's in athletics administration from Kent State.
She will inherit a highly successful athletics program that
features 23 varsity sports for men and women, as well as
comprehensive club sport and intramural programs. Since the
founding of the North Coast Athletic Conference in 1984, Denison
has won the NCAC's All-Sports Trophy a league-record 11 times. The
All-Sports Trophy recognizes the school that achieves the best
overall success across the conference's 23 sponsored sports. In
addition, Denison boasts 44 recipients of the prestigious NCAA
Postgraduate Scholarship, placing it third among the nation's 447
Division III colleges and universities.