Robert (Bob) Erickson, originally from Wakefield , Neb. , was not only a star athlete at Doane, but was also successful as the men's basketball coach from 1962-98. On Sunday, Erickson, one of the most recognizable names in Doane College athletics, passed away at the age of 79.

As a student at Doane, Erickson played football and basketball. He graduated from Doane in 1957 and served four years in the Air Force.

He returned to Doane in 1962 and took over the men's basketball program while serving as an assistant football coach. The Tiger basketball team picked up their first winning season under Erickson in his third year as coach and the team finished the 1964-65 season with a 16-9 record. The winning season marked the first of 13 consecutive winning seasons for Erickson, which included three 20-plus win seasons and two NAIA National Tournament berths.

In 1975-76, the Tigers finished with a 21-9 record and upset No. 12 seeded Norfolk State University ( Va. ), 80-79, in the first round of the NAIA National Tournament. He continued to produce successful teams that played some of the toughest competition, the likes of the University of Southern California (USC), University of Oregon and the Air Force Academy until the early 1980s.

LA GRANDE, Ore. (EOU) - Rob Cashell, director of athletics at Eastern Oregon University, has announced the hiring of Isaac Williams as the new head men's basketball coach. Williams replaces Ryan Looney who accepted the head coaching position at Seattle Pacific University last week.

Williams, an EOU graduate and former player for the Mountaineers, has been the assistant coach for the past five seasons along with the duties of sports information and marketing. During that time the Mountaineers have enjoyed the most success in the basketball program's history. Williams has been a part of a team that has been a combined 95-55 and won back-to-back Cascade Conference Championships. In addition the last two years the Mountaineers have advanced to the sweet 16 and also to the elite eight at the NAIA national tournament.

SEATTLE – Ryan Looney, who led Eastern Oregon University to the quarterfinals of the 2009 NAIA Division II Tournament, was hired as the men's basketball coach at Seattle Pacific University, athletic director Erin O'Connell announced Tuesday.

Looney, 33, compiled a 95-55 record in five seasons with Eastern Oregon. His Mountaineers won 63.3 percent of their games, the best winning percentage among all-time EOU coaches.

"We're extremely excited to open this new chapter and welcome Ryan to our campus community and our athletic department team," O'Connell said. "Under his five years of leadership at Eastern Oregon University, Ryan's teams displayed great success in the classroom and on the court. Our men's basketball program is no stranger to these characteristics and we look to Ryan to lead our team to push that envelope even further."

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio (4-29-2009) - For the first time in 20 years, there will be a new head coach roaming the sidelines for the Mount Vernon Nazarene University men's basketball team when the 2009-2010 season rolls around as the university on Wednesday announced the hiring of Matt Moore to become the program's ninth head coach.

"We are excited to welcome Matt to the MVNU family as the new men's basketball coach," said Dr. Daniel J. Martin, MVNU's president. "We feel that he brings a wealth of basketball knowledge and a passion for using the sport as a ministry. We look forward to him continuing the great tradition of Cougar basketball."

Moore comes to MVNU after spending four years as the top assistant coach at Grace College in Winona Lake, Ind. During his time with the Lancers, the program posted a 95-44 record and made back-to-back trips to the Elite Eight in the NAIA National Tournament in 2008 and 2009. The team posted three consecutive 20-win seasons during that span and also finished as the National Christian College Athletic Association National Tournament runner-up twice in 2003 and 2007.

In addition to coaching at Grace, Moore was an assistant varsity coach at Logansport High School from 2003-2006 where he worked under Indiana High School Hall of Fame Coach Al Rhodes, and he served as an assistant coach for the McDonald's All-American Team in 2005 when the game was played in South Bend, Ind. He has also taken his knowledge of the game of basketball overseas and has worked with players and coaches in France, Germany, and Kenya as part of missions trips that he has taken.

Moore graduated from Grace in 2002 with a degree in Secondary Education. As a four-year starter for the Lancers, he dished out 660 career assists, which still ranks fourth in program history. He also compiled the fifth-highest single-season assist total with 242 for an average of 7.2 per game. He went on get a master's degree in Physical Education at Ball State University. He and his wife, Anna, were married in 2007.

Tim Walker, who has been the head men's basketball coach at Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, Illinois, has been hired as the new head men's basketball coach at Malone University, the University's athletic director Charlie Grimes announced today. Walker replaces interim head coach Henry Cobb, who filled in for longtime head coach Hal Smith for the 2008-09 season.

Walker, 32, recently completed his seventh season as head coach at Trinity Christian, which is located about 20 miles southwest of downtown Chicago. In 2004-05, he led the Trolls to their first NAIA national tournament appearance in school history as the team won the program's first-ever CCAC (Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference) tournament championship, finishing with an 18-15 record. Walker was named the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association's NAIA Div. II Coach of the Year for his efforts.

Then, in the 2007-08 campaign, Trinity posted a record of 23-13 which was only the second 20-win season in the 36-year history of the program. The team finished fifth in the NCCAA national tournament.

POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. - Top-seeded Oklahoma Wesleyan defeats College of the Ozarks (Mo.) 60-53 to win its first ever NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Championship. They are the first top seed to win the title since Northwestern (Iowa) in 2003. The 18th annual event was held at the Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of the College of the Ozarks (Mo.).

In front of thousands of roaring fans and a capacity crowd at the Keeter Gymnasium, these two Midland Collegiate Conference rivals were meeting for the fourth time this season on the grandest stage. Ozarks was attempting to become the first unseeded team to win the national championship and the Bobcats came out fast, leading 8-5 after a Jared Howerton field goal. Oklahoma Wesleyan, however, behind a barrage of three-pointers, went on a 14-2 run to open up a 19-10 lead. Steve Briggs nailed a trio of three-pointers during the run, the second of which set a new tournament record with 23 three-pointers at the championship.

POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. - Top-seeded Oklahoma Wesleyan made 14 three-pointers to shoot past #5 Black Hills State (S.D.) 85-72 to in the semifinals and advance to its first ever championship game. The 18th annual event is being held at the Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of the College of the Ozarks (Mo.).

Both teams were playing in their first Final Four and came in on impressive win streaks (16 for Oklahoma Wesleyan and Black Hills State 15).The lead switched hands several times early on but after a Mike McNeil three-pointer, the top-seeded Eagles held a 14-11 advantage. Black Hills State followed with an 11-2 run and after a three-pointer by Clay Pottorff, the Yellow Jackets opened up its largest lead of the game (28-21).