Rand Chappell

Rand Chappell (born April 4, 1963) is an American college basketball coach and in his second year as the assistant head coach at Eastern Illinois University. Chappell has marked a career head coaching record of 358-203, led six teams to the NCAA Division II National Tournaments and won more than 20 games in each season for 12 consecutive years.

Early career

Chappell played for Charlie Spoonhour at Missouri State University and began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Mississippi and Missouri State University. Chappell spent three seasons (1989-1993) as an assistant coach at Southwest Baptist University under head coach Jerry Kirksey where he helped guide the 1990-1991 team to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.

He began his head coaching career in 1993 when he was hired as head coach at Labette CC in Parsons, Kansas. In his two seasons at Labette Chappell posted a 45-17 record, led the Redbirds to consecutive Independent Tournament Championships and reached the NJCAA Region VI Tournament both seasons.

In 1995 Chappell was hired as head coach of Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma and took over a program that had had three straight losing seasons. During his three years at Phillips he guided the Haymakers to the No. 1 ranking in the final NAIA Division I regular season poll, compiled a 78-22 record, and led the team to two NAIA tournament appearances. He was twice named Sooner Athletic Conference Coach of the year and was named the Basketball Times National Coach of the Year in 1998.

Henderson State University

Chappell served as the head basketball coach at Henderson State University from 1999-2003. During his five seasons at HSU, he guided his teams to an unprecedented four Gulf South Conference Tournament Championships, three GSC West titles and led the team to five NCAA tournament appearances. He compiled a 120-40 overall record and a 58-14 mark in Gulf South Conference games. He was named the NABC South Region Coach of the Year in 1999.

In 2002-03, Henderson State was 30-5 overall, tying a school record, and reached the NCAA D-II Tournament South Regional championship game. The Reddies were ranked 15th in the nation in the final NABC/Division II Bulletin Top 25. Chappell's teams have been almost unbeatable at home with a 57-6 record and 33-3 in GSC home games.

University of Central Arkansas

Chappell took over the University of Central Arkansas program (2003) that went 5-20 the previous year and produced a 43-18 record in his first two seasons as the head coach of the Bears. UCA tied for the league title and made their first ever trip to the NCAA II Tournament. They started the 2004 season with 11 straight victories and captured their first ever national ranking. He led the Bears to two straight appearances in the GSC Tournament, advancing to the semifinals both years.

In 2006 UCA began its multi-year transition to Division I and joined the Southland Conference. The University was not eligible for post-season competition until the 2010 season. On March 5, 2010 Chappell was let go by the UCA administration after 7 seasons and posting a 104-104 record.

At the end of his D-II career (2005), Chappell’s overall coaching record was 243-79 which ranked him in the top five on the NCAA D-II list with a .761 winning percentage. He also had the all-time highest winning percentage in Gulf South Conference history with .750 percent.^[1]

Personal

A native of Springfield, Missouri, Chappell graduated from Glendale High School. He received both his Bachelor's degree in Finance and Master's in Business Administration degree from Missouri State University. He is married to Molly Chappell and has two daughters—Lauren and Paige.

References