VANNOY ANNOUNCES PLANS TO RETIRE FROM COACHING

Nidiffer also retiring as athletics director in June

Harrogate, TN — Lincoln Memorial University’s Women’s Basketball Coach Roger Vannoy announced Friday that he will retire from coaching at the end of the 2006-07 season. After the season, Vannoy will remain at the University as associate athletics director and NCAA compliance officer.

“Coach Vannoy is Lady Railsplitter basketball,” LMU President Nancy B. Moody said. “He and his family have given so much to this University over the last 25 years. Although he will no longer patrol the sidelines at Tex Turner Arena, we are happy that he will still be a part of the LMU family as associate athletic director.”

LMU’s Athletics Director Jay Nidiffer also announced his intentions to retire when his contract is up on June 30. Nidiffer returned to his alma mater in 2003 to assume interim athletic director duties. Since then he has guided the program’s move from the Gulf South Conference to the South Atlantic Conference.

“Jay Nidiffer came back to the University in its hour of need. The LMU community is grateful for his contributions that Jay and his wife Katie, have made to LMU,” Moody said. “Jay has guided the athletics department through some very significant and important changes during both his tenures here.”

Vannoy, a 1975 LMU graduate, assumed the helm to the Lady Railsplitter Basketball program in 1982 after building a successful program at nearby Powell Valley High School. LMU saw immediate results under Vannoy’s leadership. By his third season, the team posted a 20-win season, the first of 11 that he would post during his career. The Lady Railsplitters have won three Tennessee Valley Athletic Conference titles, five NAIA District 24 East championships and two Gulf South Conference Eastern Division championships under his watch. At the end of last season, his 449 career wins ranked him 12^th on the NCAA Division II Winningest Active Coaches list when ranked by victories.

“It’s been a great ride. I appreciate all the heart and sweat my players and former players have put out on the court for me,” Vannoy said. “This has been a hard decision to make, but I feel like it is time to make this change. I thank Dr. Moody and all of the past presidents and administration who have supported me throughout my journey here. I look forward to continuing my work at the University as the associate athletics director.”

Nidiffer is closing out his second run as LMU’s athletics director after serving as an assistant men’s basketball coach at NCAA Division I institutions such as Auburn, Mercer, Georgia Tech and East Tennessee State. Nidiffer’s first term as athletics director came in 1987, when he played an integral role in the University’s transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II. Both he and his wife, Katie, are LMU alumni. Nidiffer was a member the Railsplitter baseball team while he was a student.

“It has been my great privilege and a pleasure to serve as athletics director at my alma mater, where it has been an honor to influence the lives of our student athletes,” Nidiffer said.

The University will open a search to fill both positions immediately.