Trevecca Nazarene University athletic director Mark Elliott hired Omar Mance to lead the Trojan basketball program on June 1, 2018, but following last week's road trip, the two mutually agreed to part ways. Further, Coach Mance felt it best, for the staff and team, for it to be effective immediately.
MANCE FILE (history)
First Season | 2018-2019 - Final Season | 2022-2023 (19 games)
21-99 Overall
17-74 Conference
MANCE ERA AWARDS | NCAA D2/GREAT MIDWEST (awards)
MANCE ERA | YEAR-BY-YEAR (history)
Mance coached the first 19 games of the 2022-23 season with a 1-18 overall record and 0-13 mark in league play. (Parting Press Release)
The 2021-22 Trojans started 3-1, but finished 5-22 overall and 2-18 in Great Midwest play. C.J. Penha made the G-MAC All-Conference First Team and the D2CCA Midwest All-Region team. Penha earned two Great Midwest Player of the Week honors during the season.
The COVID-19-shortened 2020-21 season saw the Trojans finish 5-17 overall and 5-15 in Great Midwest competition. The Liberty University transfer pipeline opened when Brendan Newton arrived on the Hill for Coach Mance. The Trojans made the Great Midwest tournament, falling to Hillsdale in the quarterfinals.
Year two saw an increase of two wins and a 6-21 overall record, all in conference play producing a 6-12 G-MAC record in the 2019-20 season. A four-game winning streak to end the season gave hope for the future. Adam Webb blocked 45 shots, earning him a spot on the G-MAC All-Defensive team. The Trojans were led in scoring by junior Austin Wills who tallied 11.2 ppg with the league’s fourth-best 3-point shooting percentage (.419).
In his first year, Mance led the Trojans to a 4-21 overall record and a 4-16 Great Midwest mark. The Trojans opened the season with an 81-63 exhibition victory over Covenant at Homecoming to kickstart the Mance era On the Hill. Mance's first official regular season contest came against his former employer, Liberty on 11.13.18. One month later, Mance's first win as Trevecca's coach came on 12.13.18 in a home affair with Walsh. The Trojans staved off the then conference-leading Cavaliers 67-63, going into the two-week Christmas break on a high note. The Trojans saw success late in the season, ending the 2018-19 season winning three of their final eight games, all home victories in Trojan Fieldhouse.
MANCE ERA PLAYER AWARDS
G-MAC All-Conference
1st Team CJ Penha 2021-22
G-MAC All-Defensive Team
2019-20 Adam Webb
G-MAC Player of the Week
2021-22 CJ Penha (1/03, 2/01)
D2CCA Midwest All-Region Team
2021-22 CJ Penha
INDIVIDUAL NCAA ERA RECORDS SET:
FG% Game: 100% (7-7) Adam Webb vs Walsh | 2020-21
FG% Season: 57% Brenden Newton | 18 games | 2020-21
FT % Game: 100% by CJ Penha vs Southwest Baptist | 2021-22
FT% Season: CJ Penha 79.4% | 2021-22
Made 3-Point Field Goals Game: Evan Ragsdale Nine (9) vs Tiffin | 12-8-2018
Total Rebounds Game: 18- CJ Penha vs Walsh | 2021-22
Rebound Average Season: 10.1 Brendan Newton | 2021-22
Blocks Season: 45 by Adam Webb | 2019-20
Steals Game: Seven (7) by Imani Starling vs Cedarville | 2020-21
TEAM NCAA ERA RECORDS SET:
Made 3-points Field Goals Season: 246 | 2018-29
Made 3-points Field Goals Game: 17 vs Tiffin | 2-8-2019
Made 3-points Field Goals Game: 18 vs Davis & Elkins | 2-24-2019
Free Throw % Game: 100% (12-12) vs Ohio Dominican | 2019-20
Free Throw % Season: 75.8% 2019-20
MANCE BEFORE TREVECCA
Coach O came to Trevecca from his alma mater, Rice University, where he served as an assistant coach during the 2017-2018 campaign. The year before, Mance served on the staff of Bryce Drew in his first season as the head coach of the Vanderbilt University men’s basketball team. The team garnered a 19-16 record and earned a trip to NCAA Tournament as a No. 9 seed in the West Region. The Commodores amassed five Top 25 RPI wins, six Top 50 wins and 11 Top 100 wins during the 206-2017 season, all while having the #1 strength of schedule in the nation.
At Liberty (2013-2016), Mance helped the Flames clinch a first-round bye in the 2016 Big South Championship, finishing 10-8 in conference play. It marked their first 10-win Big South campaign since the 2010-11 season. The Flames finished second in the conference in scoring defense, holding opponents to 68 points per game.
Before Liberty, Mance served three years as an assistant to Zach Spiker, head coach, at Army. Mance helped the Black Knights to its most successful Patriot League season (8-6) and its best overall regular season in 28 years (16-15). Army's eight regular-season Patriot League wins marked a school record and first winning season in league history. The Black Knights also garnered Army's first overall winning season since 1984-85.
During his tenure, he coached the Patriot League Rookie of the Year as well as three Patriot League all-rookie team members. The Black Knights also won the coveted “Star Game” against Navy in back-to-back seasons, becoming the first coaching staff to accomplish the feat since the Mike Krzyzewski (now Duke coach) era.
Early in his coaching career, Mance served as the recruiting coordinator and director of basketball operations at Rice. Mance helped land the Owls’ first Houston public school recruit in 40 years.
Mance started his coaching career as an assistant at Martin Luther King High School (Atlanta). His resume includes stints as head coach at North Shore Country Day (Ill.) and Joseph Sears School (Kenilworth, Ill.) athletic director.
While at Joseph Sears, Mance also helped found the Robison Mance Group (RMG Hoops), a company that worked with leagues, camps, and teams to provide mentoring services to more than 900 youth in the North Shore of Chicago.
The Stone Mountain, Ga., native played one year at LSU, finishing his career at Rice. Mance, a second-team All-WAC pick in 2003, was named the Owls' MVP in 2002 and 2003. He is a two-time WAC All-Academic Team member and a recipient of Rice’s Bob Quin Award, an honor reserved for the university’s top male student-athlete.
A three-time all-state player at Lithonia High School, Mance was the 1998 Metro Atlanta and Georgia AAA Player of the Year. Lithonia’s all-time leading scorer graduated as valedictorian while playing for his father, legendary coach Eric Mance.
Mance earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Rice in 2003. He and his wife, Rebecca, have one son, Zion.
HIRING OF MANCE
FULL PRESS RELEASE WITH QUOTES AND NOTES (PDF)
WATCH: Press Conference OnDemand
Tennessean (READ)
Nashville Post (READ)
