Head Men's Basketball Coach, Ken French, Named RSC Coach of Character Award Winner
Oakland City University men's basketball head coach Ken French has been selected as the 2021-22 River States Conference Coach of Character Award winner. French was chosen after a vote from the RSC Champions of Character Committee.
The RSC Coach of Character award is patterned after the NAIA award of the same name. It is given annually to a head coach who has been outstanding in embracing the five core values of the NAIA Champions of Character program using methods of teaching character through sport and in community leadership through volunteering or service.
The five character values of NAIA Champions of Character are Respect, Responsibility, Integrity, Servant Leadership and Sportsmanship. The award was first established in the conference in 2015-16. As the conference honoree, French will have his name forwarded to the national level as a nominee for the NAIA Coach of Character Award.
"Coach French met with every one of our programs to discuss and implement the five core values that not only the NAIA but Oakland City University expects when representing our school with both character and leadership," said T-Ray Fletcher, Director of Athletics at Oakland City. "This was the first time we had done any program like this for the entire department. He is very deserving of this award and would be a great representative for the conference moving on to the national award"
The 2021-22 season was French's first year at Oakland City, although he has been in the conference for many years as a head coach. It did not take long for coach French to make his impact for the Mighty Oaks' men's basketball program and the athletic department. Coach French is also the chair of the RSC Men's Basketball Coaches Committee serving in a leadership role for the coaches in the conference.
Coach French became the school's Champions of Character Liaison. He met with each team in the department about NAIA Champions of Character. During his presentation, he uses the movie "Remember The Titans" to illustrate each of the NAIA's five traits displayed in various characters in the film. French shows various scenes of the movie and leads a discussion based on how an athlete or non-athlete would react in the situations in the movie.
French implements within his team other strategies such as the Saturday Circle where student-athletes share something positive about somebody else or how they have faced and overcome adversity.
Coach French's basketball teams go by the motto Play for M.O.R.E. -- Memories, Others, Relationships, Excellence. He uses that motto to go beyond basketball and cover life, academics and family. The four areas of excellence that are encouraged are academically, socially, athletically and spiritually.
Coach French spreads the character message beyond his campus during the annual NAIA Basketball Classic "The Show" that he organizes. During that tournament, each team has a Champion of Character recognized and awarded. The Show has been going on for eight years running.
YEAR BY YEAR -- RIVER STATES CONFERENCE COACH OF CHARACTER AWARD WINNERS
2015-16 -- Samantha DeMartine (Asbury University), Softball Head Coach
2016-17 -- Tiffani Selhorst (IU East), Women's Basketball Head Coach
2017-18 -- Chris Hammond (Rio Grande), Softball Head Coach
2018-19 -- John Mills (Alice Lloyd), Women's Basketball Head Coach
2019-20 -- Will Shouse (Asbury), Men's Basketball Head Coach
2020-21 -- Sherrill Smith (Midway), Women's Soccer Head Coach
2021-22 -- Ken French (Oakland City), Men's Basketball Head Coach
Original source can be found here.
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