For greener pastures: Fife leaves IPFW for assistant coaching spot at MSU
FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Having just completed his sixth and most successful season as head coach of the IPFW men’s basketball team, Dane Fife has resigned to become an assistant coach on the staff of Tom Izzo at Michigan State.
Fife leaves the school as IPFW second all-time winningest coach with an overall record of 82-97 and a mark of 37-35 over four seasons in Summit League play. The Mastodons finished the 2010-11 campaign with a Division I school record of 18-12. It was the sixth consecutive season that Fife’s teams either broke or tied the school record for wins at the Division I level.
In March, Fife had signed an extension to his current contract that would have kept him in Fort Wayne until the 2016 season, but when Tom Izzo called, Fife couldn’t pass up the opportunity to join him in East Lansing.
“This opportunity is one that I’m very excited about,” Fife said. “One of my goals, since I began coaching, has been to work for Coach Tom Izzo at Michigan State University. Coach Izzo is a man of high integrity and principle and a coach that runs his program the absolute right way. I consider this a tremendous honor to have the chance to coach and learn under Tom Izzo. I look forward to the many challenges as well as making my own contributions to this already storied basketball powerhouse. Helping Coach Izzo earn his second NCAA championship ring isn’t a maybe, but a must, and I am very confident that I can help in this journey.
Fife is a native of Clarkston and a 1998 Clarkston High School graduate.He was named Mr. Basketball that season. He later went on to become a starter at Indiana and helped the Hoosiers to the 2002 NCAA runner-up spot.
Fife added that he was very proud of what his players and staff accomplished while he was on the bench.
“Our success in Fort Wayne is something that I hold in very high regard. We took over a program that needed life and our coaches, players and support staff delivered. We have, without a doubt, turned this program in the right direction and established a sense of pride that will remain sacred to IPFW Basketball forever. I love my players, past and present and I am very proud to have been their coach at this school. It has been an honor to work with such tremendous people during my time in Fort Wayne.”
“I’d like to thank the fans and supporters of the program who inspired me to help make the program better every day. I’d also like to thank the administration, faculty and staff at IPFW, along with the hard working coaches and administrators; it has been wonderful. Finally, I’d like to thank the city of Fort Wayne. It is a place that I’m proud to have called home.”
“Coach Fife and his staff have done a great job of building the IPFW basketball program slowly and consistently while emphasizing academics,” IPFW Director of Athletics TommyBell said.
“The graduation rate of basketball players at IPFW has been tremendous. Coach Fife has established the IPFW basketball program as a viable first choice for many student-athletes in the state of Indiana, and we thank him for his service to the university and wish him all the success in his future endeavors.”
Category: Campus Clips, Clarkston, Colleges / Other, High School, Where Are They Now?
