Dan Wingate
SPRINGFIELD — Dan Wingate always wanted to come home to Ohio to coach. He has his chance now.
Emmanuel Christian Academy hired the Wooster native as its new boys basketball coach and athletic director this week.
“I’m very excited,” said Wingate, 36. “This is a good opportunity personally and professionally. I’m an Ohio boy. This gets us back to Ohio. You can take the boy out of Ohio, but you can’t take Ohio out of the boy.”
Wingate’s wife, Tiah, joins him as Emmanuel Christian’s new volleyball coach.
Wingate replaces Danny Moore, who was the head coach for 10 seasons. Moore resigned because he said he wanted to go in a different direction. He said he would like coach again some day.
Wingate played one season of Division I basketball at the University of Tennessee Martin. Then he played three seasons at Malone University, graduating in 1997. He appeared in Sports Illustrated’s Faces in the Crowd in 1995 after scoring 53 points in a game against Wilberforce, still a school record.
He ranks 28th in school history with 1,237 points.
After graduating from Malone, Wingate was an assistant women’s coach for Judson University Christian College in Elgin, Ill., for two years and then the head women’s coach at Trinity International University in Deerfield, Ill., for three seasons.
This will be his first time coaching boys, something he always wanted to do.
“We feel we got the find of the century,” said Dr. Dan Bragg, Emmanuel Christian’s superintendent. “It was a tough decision. We had about 13-14 people interested in the job. We had a nice interview team in place, and in the end, we felt tons of unity that this was the guy.”
Tiah Wingate, 30, was a four-year starter at Indiana Wesleyan University. This is her first head coaching job.
“I’ve always had a passion for volleyball,” she said. “I was able to help coach in the high school ranks a few years ago. I’m looking forward to the opportunity, especially at Emmanuel Christian. I’m excited about the school.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0351 or djablonski@coxohio.com.
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