Lynn Sanford Nance (born September 3, 1942) is an American former

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. He also served as head coach at

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State be ...

, Central Missouri State, Saint Mary's,

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, and Southwest Baptist.

Early life and education

Nance was born in

Granby, Missouri Granby is a city in Newton County, Missouri, United States. The population was 2,048 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area. History In 1850, while traveling through Missouri on his way to St. Louis ...

, where he graduated from Granby High School. At Southwest Baptist Junior College (now University), Nance was a junior college All-American player before transferring to the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

, where he became an honorable mention all-American. Nance went on to be selected in the fourth round of the

1965 NBA draft The 1965 NBA draft was the 19th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 6, 1965, before the 1965–66 season. In this draft, nine NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball player ...

by the

St. Louis Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at S ...

. Unfortunately, a knee injury ended his professional career before he ever played a game for St. Louis.

Coaching career

Nance began his coaching career as head basketball coach at Versailles High School in

Versailles, Missouri Versailles ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Morgan County, Missouri, United States. The population was 2,539 at the 2020 census. History A post office called Versailles, after the royal palace in France, has been in operation since 1835 ...

. He was freshman team coach at Washington in 1967–68. From 1968 to 1970, Nance was assistant varsity coach at Washington under

Tex Winter Morice Fredrick "Tex" Winter (February 25, 1922 – October 10, 2018) was an American basketball coach and innovator of the triangle offense, an offensive system that became the dominant force in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and res ...

before leaving to join the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

. In 1974, Nance returned to coaching basketball, as an assistant on Joe B. Hall's staff at

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

for two seasons. From 1976 to 1980, Nance was head coach at

, during which Nance went 41–59. Following an 8–10 start to the season, Nance resigned from Iowa State on January 29, 1980. Iowa State reached a settlement to buy out the remaining two years on his contract, worth around $36,000. Nance's next job was at Central Missouri State (now

Central Missouri The University of Central Missouri (UCM) is a public university in Warrensburg, Missouri, United States. In 2024, enrollment was 13,734 students from 48 states and 52 countries on its 1,561-acre campus. UCM offers 150 programs of study, inclu ...

), a Division II where he was head coach from 1980 to 1985. Nance led Central Missouri State to a 29–3 record and

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

in the 1983–84 season. Returning to the Division I level, Nance was an assistant coach at

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...

in 1985–86. Nance again worked as a head coach from 1986 to 1989 at Saint Mary's College, going 61–27 with a school record 25 wins,

West Coast Athletic Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with NCA ...

title, and NCAA tournament appearance in 1988–89. Nance's final two head coaching jobs were at schools where he played college basketball. From 1989 to 1993, Nance was head coach at Washington, going 50–62. From 1996 to 1999, Nance was head coach at Southwest Baptist, going 36–42. In 2010, Nance returned to coaching to serve as an assistant under

Trent Johnson Trent Aubrey Johnson (born September 12, 1956) is a former American college basketball coach. Johnson had previously been the head coach at Cal State University Northridge, Texas Christian University, Louisiana State University, Stanford Univers ...

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

Outside of coaching

Aside from his career as a coach, Nance also served as a

special agent In the United States, a special agent is an official title used to refer to certain investigators or detectives of federal, military, tribal, or state agencies who primarily serve in criminal investigatory positions. Additionally, some special ...

for the

from 1970 to 1973. From 1973 to 1974, Nance was an investigator for the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

. Nance drew upon his experience as an FBI agent to write a novel titled ''Bridger: Deadly Peril''. In 1989, Nance spoke negatively about his former job as an NCAA investigator and said that NCAA rules "don’t take into consideration that some players’ parents don't have money."

Head coaching record

(*) ISU finished the season 7–20, but was later awarded a win vacated by

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

.
(**) Indicates record/standing at time of resignation from Iowa State.

References