Vannoy Era Comes To An End With Loss At Wingate

WINGATE, NC – Wednesday’s night’s 91-54 loss to Wingate University in the  Quarterfinals of the Women’s South Atlantic Conference Tournament not only ended the Lady Railsplitter basketball team’s season at 14-15, it also brought to an end a rein of coaching that is unequaled in Lincoln Memorial University athletics history.

Twenty-five years ago, Roger Vannoy, a graduate of nearby Powell Valley High School and of Lincoln Memorial University (1975), took over the helm of a Lady Railsplitter basketball program that had been considered mediocre at best.  In only his first season with the Lady Railsplitters, he guided his team to an 11-14 record.  Since then, the Lady Railsplitters have won three TVAC titles, five NAIA District 24 Eastern Division Championships and two Gulf South Conference Eastern Division Championships.  His teams also qualified for the GSC Tournament eight out of 11 possible times during the University’s membership with the Gulf South Conference, including five consecutive trips from 1999-2004.  LMU’s appearance in the 2003 NCAA Division II South Regional Tournament is considered the crown jewel in Vannoy’s 25 year career.

Having already become the winningest coach in LMU history several years ago when he surpassed LMU’s legendary coach Dean Bailey, Vannoy ends his career as head coach of the Lady Railsplitters with 463 wins and 246 losses, a record that may be around longer than he walked the sidelines for the Lady Railsplitters.  What may be more amazing is that 97% of his players that completed their college eligibility at LMU also graduated with their undergraduate degrees.

During his tenure as athletics director for Lincoln Memorial University which officially begins July 1, 2007, Vannoy’s legacy should certainly be used as a benchmark for future LMU coaches to achieve all that is possible and to do it with dignity, class and with a style that exemplifies what Lincoln Memorial University and its athletics program truly stands for, excellence.