Omer Dean Ehlers (June 22, 1929 – February 19, 2017) was 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 ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

coach and athletic administrator. He was the first

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

for

James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public university, public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1908, the institution was renamed in 1938 in honor of the fourth president of the ...

and served for 22 years. Ehlers played basketball and baseball as a student at Central Methodist University. He spent time playing baseball in the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...

organization and in the U.S. Army before embarking on his coaching career, starting as head baseball coach and assistant basketball coach at Memphis State University (now the

University of Memphis The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students. The university maintains the Herff Col ...

). Ehlers then moved to James Madison, as the school's first athletic director while the school made the transition from a women's college to a co-ed institution. He coached the school's basketball team for a year, before hiring Lou Campanelli, who led the Dukes to their first NCAA tournament appearance in 1981. Ehlers was instrumental in founding the

Colonial Athletic Association The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), formerly the ECAC South Conference and the Colonial Athletic Association, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA' ...

in 1985 and was the namesake for the Ehlers Award, granted by the conference to the men's and women's basketball players who “embodies the highest standards of leadership, integrity and sportsmanship in conjunction with his academic athletic achievement.” Ehlers retired in 1993. He died on February 19, 2017, at age 87.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ehlers, Dean 1929 births 2017 deaths Asheville Tourists players Baseball catchers Baseball players from Jackson County, Illinois Basketball coaches from Illinois Basketball players from Illinois Central Methodist Eagles baseball players Central Methodist Eagles men's basketball players College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Elmira Pioneers players Geneva Robins players James Madison Dukes athletic directors James Madison Dukes men's basketball coaches Memphis Tigers baseball coaches Memphis Tigers men's basketball coaches Ponca City Dodgers players Pueblo Dodgers players 20th-century American sportsmen