Dana Ford (born June 9, 1984) is an American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach who is an assistant coach at SMU. He was formerly the head coach at

Missouri State University Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second-largest u ...

from March 21, 2018 until he was relieved of his duties on March 10, 2024. Prior to coaching the Bears, he was the head coach at Tennessee State from 2014 through the 2018 season. Ford is a former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player, having played at

Illinois State Illinois State University (ISU) is a public research university in Normal, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University and is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching ...

from 2002 to 2006. After not being selected in the

2006 NBA draft The 2006 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2006, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. c ...

, the

Tamms, Illinois Tamms is a village in Tamms Precinct, Alexander County, Illinois, United States. The population was 430 at the 2020 census, down from 632 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Cape Girardeau– Jackson, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical Are ...

native joined the Tennessee State Tigers coaching staff under head coach John Cooper. He has previously been with

Wichita State Wichita State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 ...

and Illinois State through his coaching career, playing a key role in the teams' recruiting and overall success.

Playing career

Ford attended Egyptian Senior High School in

. He became one of the most dangerous high school guards in the area and broke the school record for points scored by the end of his final season. Ford was coached by former All-State point guard Brad Sinks. Sinks would refer to Ford as “the puppet master” because of the way Ford could handle it on a string. To this day, Ford credits Coach Sinks for teaching him to play angry and hard nosed, which is seen in his coaching. Ford was named First Team Class A All-State and a two-time conference player of the year. At the conclusion of his basketball years in high school, the

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

averaged 22 points per game. It was highly anticipated that he would bring his talent to the

Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball The Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball team represents Illinois State University, located in Normal, Illinois, in NCAA Division I basketball competition. They are currently led by head coach Ryan Pedon and play their home games at CEFCU ...

team, choosing the school over other possibilities such as

Evansville Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 census, it is Indiana's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the most populous city in S ...

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois comprising the southern third of the state, principally south of Interstate 70. Part of downstate Illinois, it is bordered by the two List of U.S. rivers by discharge, most voluminous ri ...

, and Southeast Missouri State. In his first season with Illinois State, Ford hardly made a significant impact on the team's backcourt scoring. He finished the season averaging 2.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 0.6 assists. Ford made eight starts in the entire year and scored his first points in his fourth collegiate appearance against

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

. His sophomore year would be far less successful, with Ford playing just twenty games in the season. Similarly went the following season, but he scored double-digits in the team's postseason game against Creighton. In Ford's final season, he recorded over nine points eight times through the season and logged a career-high 16 points as a starting guard against Grambling State. By the end of his senior year, he ranked within the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

's Top 10 under the steals and blocks categories. Ford was also named the squad's defensive player of the year due to this success. Ford entered the

, which turned unsuccessful after he was not selected by a single team at the conclusion of the event.

Coaching career

Ford began his career on the coaching staff at Winthrop, when he was named a graduate assistant. Under head coach

Gregg Marshall Michael Gregg Marshall (born February 27, 1963) is an American college basketball coach whose most recent position was head coach at Wichita State University. Marshall has coached his teams to appearances in the NCAA Division I men's basketball ...

, the team qualified for an NCAA Tournament berth. He continued holding the same position as he joined

with Marshall the next season. The Shockers continued to prevail and made another appearance in their postseason tournament. Ford's first year serving as an assistant coach was at

Chipola College Chipola College is a public college in Marianna, Florida, United States. It is part of the Florida College System. History The school was founded in 1947 as Chipola Junior College; its name was changed in 2003 after the college developed sever ...

, where he led the Indians to an impressive 35–2 overall record and a third-place spot in the NJCAA National Tournament. The team also won its fifth consecutive FCCAA State Championship. His second team as an assistant coach was Tennessee State, where he helped John Cooper lead the team. The Tigers finished with a winning record and an exceptional performance against Murray State. Ford most notably helped in recruiting NBA player Robert Covington to his team roster. After Tennessee State, Ford returned to

to serve as an assistant coach under

. This was his third time coaching alongside Marshall, who made the remark, "This is how much I think of Dana Ford. At age 26, this is the third time I have invited Dana to join my staff…he was first my graduate assistant at Winthrop, followed me to Wichita State, and then after sending him out into the world to Chipola, and to Tennessee State, where he has helped coach Cooper recruit a fine young group of players, I am inviting him back." The Shockers finished the season and Ford was instrumental to their conference tournament victory and an NCAA Tournament appearance. Ford came back to Illinois State to become the team's assistant coach. He was also named the recruiting coordinator to add on to his original coaching duties. Following his two seasons with his alma mater, Ford returned to Tennessee State for his first experience as a head coach. The position was secured after Travis Williams left the team following a 5–25 season. After going 5–26 in his inaugural season as head coach, Ford orchestrated the largest NCAA turnaround from 2014–15 to 2015–16 with a 15-win difference. In 2015–16, Ford was named the OVC Coach of the Year, led his team to 20 wins, and a berth in the CIT postseason tournament. He was also named the 2016 National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District 19 Coach of the Year, CollegeInsiders.com's Ben Jobe Award Winner, and the BOXTOROW Coach of the Year.

Head coaching record

Personal life

Ford is a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. Ford is married to Christina Ford. They have three daughters, Charlie Rose, Cline and Courtney as well as three sons, Cameron, Carson, and Crain. Their daughter, Promise, died in infancy. Ford is a supporter of his wife's charity, The Rebound Foundation, a non-profit that works to provide transitional housing to women and children who've experienced domestic abuse and educate on healthy relationships.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Dana 1984 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Illinois Basketball players from Illinois College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball coaches Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball players Junior college men's basketball coaches in the United States Missouri State Bears basketball coaches People from Alexander County, Illinois Shooting guards Tennessee State Tigers basketball coaches Wichita State Shockers men's basketball coaches