2007-08 Ouachita Tiger Basketball -- Head Coach Charlie Schaef

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Phone: (870) 245-5184

Continuing to raise the bar higher and higher each season, Ouachita head coach Charlie Schaef is entering his seventh season at the helm of the Tiger basketball program after coming to Ouachita from Arkansas-Monticello after the 2000-2001 season.

In his first season as the head coach at Ouachita, Charlie Schaef brought a renewed enthusiasm to the men’s basketball program at Ouachita Baptist University. Schaef’s first season saw the team post the best start in 17 years with a 8-1 mark before Christmas.

In his second season, Schaef led the Tigers to its first winning record since the 1996-97 season with a 16-12 overall mark. The Tigers also qualified for the Gulf South Conference tournament for the first time since the school entered the league with a fourth-place 10-6 record in the GSC West.

In his third season, the Tigers finished the season with a 19-9 record and a secondplace finish in the GSC West with a 12-4 record. The Tigers were ranked as high as No. 19 in the nation in NCAA Division II and put together a 13-game winning streak midway through the season. Ouachita went through the first half of the GSC West schedule undefeated and held the fifth-longest active winning streak in the country during the stretch.

Ouachita also made its presence known in the NCAA South Region poll during the 2003-04 season. The Tigers were ranked as high as No. 2 in the regional rankings last season. A second-straight GSC Tournament berth was also in the cards for the 2003-04 season for the Tigers. Schaef coached two All-GSC and All-South Region players in the magical season. In 2004-05, the Tigers put together their second consecutive 19-win season and earned the program’s first-ever GSC Tournament win.

Schaef became only the third head coach at Ouachita in the last five decades when he came to Ouachita from Arkansas-Monticello in May of 2001. Immediately prior to leaving UAM for Ouachita, Schaef led the Boll Weevils to their first-ever GSC Championship and the first conference championship of any kind since the 1955-56 season. Schaef was also named the GSC Coach of the Year and the Chevrolet/National Association of Basketball Coaches South Region Coach of the Year for turning the UAM program around.

When Schaef came to Ouachita, much of the same was set before him. Schaef inherited a program that had recorded only one winning season since entering NCAA Division II and won just five games in the previous season. What a difference four seasons make.

“Every year we come into the season with goals of winning a conference championship and making the NCAA tournament,” Schaef said. “Success breeds success and you have to have the mentality that every time you step on the floor, you’re going to dominate your opponent.”

Even though Schaef is one of the youngest coaches in the GSC at age 36, he has been a part of teams at all levels of collegiate basketball. Schaef has 10 years of experience at the NCAA Division II level, two years on the NCAA Division I level, and one year at the junior college level.

Schaef got his start in coaching at the University of Texas-Pan American where he was a graduate assistant from 1992-94. While at UTPA, the Broncos were recognized by the NCAA as the most improved program and won 16 games in the 1993-94 season which was more wins than the previous three seasons combined. UTPA also increased attendance by 300 percent.

After leaving UTPA, Schaef served one season as assistant coach at Labette Community College in Parsons, Kansas, under current Central Arkansas head coach Rand Chappell.

While Schaef was at Labette, the 1994-95 season saw the Cardinals win 25 games and win the Independent regular season and tournament championships.

Schaef’s next job was as assistant coach at West Texas A&M in Canyon, Texas, where he served for four years. The Buffaloes won 81 games in four seasons while Schaef was on staff and earned their first back-to-back 22-win seasons since the 1939-40, 1940-41 seasons. The Buffaloes also earned the school’s first ever NCAA Division II Elite Eight appearance in that time period as they were the NCAA South Central Region Champions after hosting the regional tournament for the first time in school history.

Schaef was born in Canadian, Texas, and attended Canadian High School where he was a three-sport letterman in football, basketball and golf. Schaef received a bachelor’s degree in exercise and sports science in 1993 from Texas Tech University and received a master’s degree in physical education from Pittsburg State University (Kansas) in 1995.