After 22 years as head coach of the Drover men’s basketball team, USAO’s Brisco McPherson announced his retirement from coaching Friday.
Coach Brisco McPherson poses with a mock up of the new Brisco McPherson court when the surprise announcement was made before a November game. (Jessica Jackson/USAO)
McPherson has been a part of the USAO basketball program for 37 of the 40 years of its existence, as a player, assistant coach and head coach.
“I have loved my time at USAO, but after 22 years, it’s time to let someone else — someone with new energy and enthusiasm — take over the Drovers,” McPherson said. “I want to thank the university for allowing me to be a part of Drover Nation for all these years.”
Although McPherson’s resignation will not be effective until the end of his contract in June of this year, the university will begin a national search for a head coach later this month.
McPherson played on the 1973-74 team, the first men’s basketball team to take the court for USAO. He graduated from the university in 1976 with bachelor’s degrees in sociology and psychology.
With 309 wins, he is the winningest coach in the program’s history and, through this season, the 22nd winningest active coach in the NAIA.
McPherson has been serving double duty since 2002 as both men’s head basketball coach and athletic director. He will stay on in the role of AD on a part-time basis.
As head coach, McPherson took the Drovers to six NAIA National Championship tournament appearances, including back-to-back trips to the final game in the early 2000s. In 2002, the Drovers claimed the school’s only NAIA National Title.
“It has been a joy to work with the greatest administration, faculty and staff of the best university in the world for the past 22 years,” McPherson said. “I could not have asked for a better place to work or better people to work with.”