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Head Coach
Dane Fife
 On March
24, 2005, IPFW Director of Athletics Mark A. Pope announced
that
former Indiana University assistant Dane Fife has been
selected as the new men's basketball coach at IPFW.
The former
Indiana standout had just completed his second season on
coach Mike Davis' staff.
"Dane
brings a great tradition of basketball coaching experience," Pope
said. "His father was a collegiate basketball player
and coach at the University of Michigan. Both of his brothers
competed at the collegiate level. He has learned from two
mentors, Bob Knight and Mike Davis. He has competed in
the NCAA National Championship Game. In short, he is a
great fit for IPFW at this stage of our development. He
brings a tremendous competitive spirit and a strong belief
that he can get the job done here."
As a player,
Fife was the defensive catalyst behind Indiana’s 2001-02 Big Ten
co-champion and Final Four team. He broke the Hoosiers’ career
steals record (180) en route to league Defensive Player of the
Year honors as a senior. Fife also ranks among the Hoosiers’ all-time
top 20 in assists (307) and three-pointers (99), and his .478 three-point
field goal percentage in 2001-02 is sixth on IU’s single-season
list. Fife also holds Indiana’s single-season record for games
started (37) and is tied for sixth in career games played (131).
Fife
was the Gary Steelheads’ first-round pick in the 2002 CBA
Draft and started five of the 34 games in which he played.
He averaged 3.4 points and one rebound per game.
"I
am truly humbled by this tremendous opportunity," Fife
said. "My goal has always been to become a successful
college coach and to help young men reach their full potential,
both on and off the court. IPFW Men's Basketball is on
its way to becoming an outstanding program, and I will
give everything that I have within me to bring it to the
next level."
"What
most attracted me to Dane was that, more than any other
candidate, he convinced me that he wants this position
at IPFW - not just any coaching position," Pope added. "He
has a passion for our student-athletes and has studied
them closely. He has already developed a plan to further
the development of our team. His preparation, attention
to detail and hard work will be his greatest assets. I
am looking forward to starting this new era in IPFW Basketball."
Fife,
at 25, becomes the youngest current Division I head coach.
That distinction was previously held by 30 year old Jeff
Capel of Virginia Commonwealth.
IPFW
Assistant Coaches
Associate
Head Coach
Jeff Tungate
Last season, Tungate was an assistant on the staff at Oakland University,
helping the Golden Griz earn a birth in the NCAA Tournament. Prior
to joining the Oakland staff, he was the head coach at Lincoln
Memorial University in Tennessee for five seasons. While with the
Railsplitters he compiled a 60-74 record, including a 19-10 mark
in the 2002-03 season, the most wins for the school in 15 years.
Prior to taking over as head coach, Tungate spent one season as
an assistant for Lincoln Memorial, helping guide the team to a
17-10 record and a Gulf South Conference-East championship. Before
moving to Tennessee, Tungate was an assistant coach at Rochester
College for three seasons.
 Assistant
Coach
Tony Jasick
Jasick spent last season on the Middle Tennessee staff as a graduate assistant
after spending the previous three years as an NCAA Division II assistant, most
recently at Newberry College. Jasick began his coaching career as a volunteer
assistant at the University of North Alabama (Gulf South Conference), where he
worked under the school's all-time winningest coach, Gary Elliot. He spent the
past three years as an NCAA Division II assistant and helped lead Newberry College
to the program's most wins in more than 20 years in 2003-04. Newberry also made
its first appearance in the conference tournament championship game last season.
 Assistant
Coach
Jermaine Kimbrough
Kimbrough comes to IPFW after
spending last season at UMass (Atlantic 10) on the staff of Head
Coach Steve Lappas. Prior to his stint at UMass, Kimbrough was
as an Administrative Assistant at Cleveland State where he aided
the coaching staff with recruiting, scouting, student-athlete
academic services, team travel, tape exchange, camp and various
other duties. Kimbrough served as an assistant coach at Howard
College in Texas from 2001-03 where he helped the Hawks to a national
ranking as high as No. 2 in the nation. Howard had a 23-game win
streak during his tenure and finished ranked No. 15 in the nation
in 2002, when they won their conference championship. Kimbrough
helped promote the program performing various roles as an assistant
coach, recruiter and academic liaison.
 Director
of Basketball Operations
Joel
Cotton
This is Joel
Cotton's third season with the IPFW men's basketball program.
Cotton is IPFW's Director of Basketball Operations, a role he
is returning to after assuming assistant coach duties last
season.
His responsibilities
have included film exchange, travel coordination, individual
workouts,
and supervision of minor basketball staff.
Coach Cotton
completed requirements for a master's degree in Professional
Communications
this past May at IPFW. He is a 2003 graduate of Indiana University,
Bloomington, where he received B.S. in Kinesiology. He competed
for four seasons as a member of the IU Track & Field program
and was named Academic All-Big 10 for three years.
Cotton played
high school basketball in his hometown of Huntington, IN. He helped
lead the Huntington North Vikings to a regional championship,
with a record of 20-5, his senior season.
Coach Cotton
resides in Fort Wayne and is engaged to Jennifer Emley. They plan
to be wed in June of 2006.
 Graduate
Manager
Dan Bere
Dan Bere begins his first year at IPFW as a graduate manager.
Bere recently earned a bachelor's degree at Indiana University,
and has begun pursing a master's degree in liberal arts at IPFW
this fall.
Bere spent the past four years as a manager for the Hoosiers
under head coach Mike Davis. He was a member of the 2001-02 team
that won the Big Ten and was national runner-up.
With the Mastodons, his duties include film exchange, film breakdown/scouting,
assisting in travel coordination, supervision of student-managers,
assisting with the recruiting database and coordinating recruiting
mail-outs.
Bere is a native of Hinsdale, Illinois.
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