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lamar

Rocky Lamar

Coach Lamar has been at the helm of the Pioneers since 1986. The 1976 MidAmerica Nazarene graduate has collected 788 wins and was was elected to the NAIA Hall of Fame in 2014. He is the active NAIA leader in wins.

Rocky still holds the MNU career record for free throw percentage and assists per game. Coach Lamar played his high school ball in Maquoketa, Iowa under Hall of Fame Coach Coach Bill Fleming. Coach Lamar’s style of coaching is still influenced by Coach Fleming. Coach Lamar started his coaching career at Central City, Iowa. He was there for three years and at Blakesburg, Iowa for five years before returning to his alma mater in 1986. Before Coach Lamar began his tenure at MNU, the Pioneers had just six winning seasons, three of them coming while he was playing for the Pioneers. The Pioneers had also never experienced a 20-win season. Now they have won at least 20 games in 23 seasons. Coach Lamar has coached 28 NAIA All-America honorees. He has also been named HAAC Coach of the Year seven times (89-90, 91-92, 95-96, 99-00, 06-07, 11-12, and 2015-16). He was named NAIA & KBCA Coach of the Year for the 06-07 season, and KBCA Coach of the Year for the 08-09 season. The Pioneers have won 13 conference championships, and have been to the NAIA national tournament 19 times. They finished 2nd in the NCCAA National Tournament in 1996-97 & 1997-98. MNU basketball has reached the NAIA final four in 2001 (runner-up), 2006, 2007 (National Champs), 2008, 2009, 2014, and 2016.

Coach Lamar says his greatest joy in coaching comes from seeing his team learn how to serve Christ and how to relate their belief in Christ to others around them. Coach Lamar and his wife of 41 years, Dr. Jo Lamar, have two children and three grandchildren.

Coach Rocky Lamar was born a Hoosier, grew up in Iowa, but calls Olathe, Kansas and MidAmerica Nazarene University home since 1986. Coach Lamar is a graduate of MNU and holds a Masters of Educational Administration from Kansas University. He met his wife at MNU in 1973 and they were married one year later. They have two children, Chaz and Sarah - both graduates of MNU and now successful professionals. Chaz and his wife Jamie are the parents of Coach Lamar's three grandchildren, Jared, Jayna, and Jonas. Coach Lamar's entire career has been an investment in young people. His generous positive energy, warm hugs and exemplary instruction have built thousands of lasting relationships across the miles and across the years. The roster of his summer basketball camps sometimes evidences this legacy. Many of his campers are the children of his former students and players who have stayed in touch for decades and are eager to have their own children influenced in the same way they were by Coach Lamar. Another sign of Coach Lamar's influence to young people can be found in his coaching tree. There are dozens of basketball coaches now all over the world making their positive impact on young people after playing for and assisting with him. Coach Lamar gives up some of his free time each off-season to donate his basketball camp to his Navajo friends in Arizona at The Native American Christian Academy. Somehow Rocky is able to make a week of hard work and sweat the highlight of their school year! Today, one of his basketball managers is a 2008 graduate of Native American Christian Academy.