Gary Van Atta enters his seventh season at the helm at Trevecca, where he has grown the women's basketball program into a national NAIA power. Van Atta, a veteran coach of 25 years, holds an overall coaching record (high school and college) of 543-270. His four-year college coaching record is 414-217 (NAIA record is 307-107). Van Atta has an impressive 100% graduation rate and has coached more than 100 scholar-athletes and 17 NAIA Scholar-athletes.
In the spring of 2009, Van Atta was selected by the WBCA to serve on the WBCA Region 5 Coach of the Year Selection Committee.
He has a career record of 141-58 overall at Trevecca and is 68-28 in conference play in his first six seasons. The former Trojan ('79) led the program to consecutive conference tournament championship games (three of the last five), back-to-back Elite Eight finishes in the NAIA National Tournament, and an NAIA Championship game appearance.
In his first season the Trojans finished with a school-record 31-5 overall mark. It was during that season Van Atta won his 400th overall career game (high school, junior college, college) and his 300th collegiate victory. In his second season, despite losing four starters and other contributing players, he led a very young team to a surprising 27-7 record, a second-place finish in the tough TranSouth and to the Elite Eight of the NAIA Tournament.
His third season saw the Trojans make their deepest NAIA Tournament run in program history when they finished 23-12. The Trojans advanced all the way to the NAIA title game. His fourth season included a return to the TranSouth Championship game and a 10th straight NAIA Tournament appearance. Coach Van Atta quietly won his 500th career game (high school, junior college, college). His fifth season brought his 400th college game and an 11th consecutive trip to the NAIA Championships for Trevecca.
Van Atta is a 1979 graduate of Trevecca Nazarene where he was a co-captain of the basketball team as a senior.
Van Atta coached college women at Motlow State Community College, the University of Montevallo in Alabama (seven years), and UT-Martin. In 1999 he was inducted into the Montevallo Sports Hall of Fame after having taken the Lady Falcons to five consecutive appearances in the NAIA National Tournament, including the NAIA Final Four in 1994. He remains the winningest coach in Montevallo history with a record of 166-49.
He left UT-Martin with an eight-year record of 107-110 and is the all-time winningest coach in the Lady Skyhawk record books. Van Atta was the OVC co-coach of the year in 1998 and led the team to the Ohio Valley regular season title in 1999. The 1999 team advanced to the WNIT and reached the Sweet 16 with a victory over Ole Miss.
After leaving UT-Martin, Van Atta went home to his high school alma mater ('74) for one year when he coached the boy's basketball team at Mt. Juliet High School. Van Atta led the Golden Bears to a record of 13-15. In 1987 he coached the Gallatin High girls to a 34-0 record and the Class AAA State Championship.
Gary and his wife, Courtney, reside in Nashville. His daughter is former Trojan standout K.C. Van Atta, who finished her career as Trevecca's all-time leader in 3-pt field goals made (243) and attempted (744), and sits sixth on the all-time Trevecca scoring list with 1,384 points.
