Dave Holmquist Named 2024 Harry Statham Coach of Impact Award Winner

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Kansas City, MO – Small College Basketball has the privilege of announcing Dave Holmquist as the 2024 Harry Statham Coach of Impact Award winner. Coach Holmquist is the fifth recipient of the extremely prestigious Harry Statham Coach of Impact Award. Harry Statham had this to say about Coach Holmquist:

 

“Coach Holmquist is a great selection for the Coach of Impact Award,” stated Statham. “He is a living example of the principles he teaches. His teams have had tremendous success in conference play and postseason play in both the NAIA and NCAA Division II.”

 

Coach Holmquist just completed his 44th season as the Biola men’s basketball coach. During his exceptional career at Biola, Coach Holmquist has compiled a record of 1,022-398. This includes 21 NAIA Tournament appearances and one NCAA Division II Tournament appearance. Including three seasons leading Fresno Pacific, Coach Holmquist holds an overall record of 1,058-439. He is one of five four-year college men’s basketball coaches to ever win 1,000 career games. Coach Holmquist had this to say about being named the 2024 Harry Statham Coach of Impact Award winner:

 

"It's a great honor to be the recipient of the 2024 Harry Statham Coach of Impact Award,” stated Coach Holmquist.  “Because of what the award represents, and because it will always connect me with Coach Statham, who had such a wonderful career and had so much influence on countless players and coaches, I am both humbled and grateful."

 

After graduating from Biola in 1974, Coach Holmquist was named the head coach at Fresno Pacific at just 24 years old. During his three-year tenure at Fresno Pacific, Coach Holmquist compiled a record of 36-43. Coach Holmquist returned to his alma mater as a Co-Head Coach at the start of the 1978-79 season.

 

During his historic career, Coach Holmquist led Biola to postseason play in every year the school has been eligible since he started his tenure. During the 1983-84 season, as a co-head coach, Holmquist led the team to a NCCAA Championship. Coach Holmquist has earned two NAIA National Coach of the Year Awards, eight conference / district Coach of the Year Awards and was named to the NAIA Hall of Fame in 2002. He has led 32 NAIA All – Americans and 40 All-GSAC players, including three GSAC Players of the Year. With the transition to NCAA Division II, Biola student-athletes have experienced great success in a short period of time. Five players have received All PacWest honors, along with the conference Freshman of the Year. In total the Eagles have collected 17 All-PacWest honors. Biola Athletic Director Dr. Bethany Miller had this to say about Coach Holmquist:

 

“We celebrate Coach Holmquist receiving the Harry Statham Coach of Impact Award,” mentioned Miller. “Dr. Holmquist models the values of integrity and high character - specifically in his humility, wisdom, and intentional care for others. His scope of influence is shared by a vast number of student-athlete alumni, coaches, administrators, and our Biola University community. From my experience as a student-athlete when he was athletic director, a head coach under his leadership, and now in this position as athletic director, I have seen Coach Holmquist empower, develop, and encourage individuals and teams to love God and love others as professionals, as teammates, as parents, wives or husbands. Whatever the calling or the circumstances, he generously shares his experience and his lessons learned in the good and in the challenges.  Coach Holmquist has done this with intentionality and thoughtfulness, with a relentless pursuit of the application of his wealth of head and heart knowledge utilized as a gift to see others thrive. I am grateful for his presence here at Biola and his profound impact in the world of college athletics and beyond.”

 

Coach Holmquist was the longest-tenured coach in the Golden State Athletic Conference. During Biola’s time in the GSAC, Coach Holmquist’s teams collected a record of 250-150. The team finished in the top four in 14 of 23 seasons and picked up conference championships during the 2001-02 and 2015-16 seasons. Coach Holmquist earned GSAC Coach of the Year honors four times. He took over a program that had not won more than 25 games in a season or advanced to a national tournament in 18 years. Since becoming the head coach at Biola, Coach Holmquist and the Eagles have averaged 24 wins per season. As an NAIA member, Biola’s 21 trips to the NAIA Championship ranked sixth all time among all NAIA programs.

 

The 2015-16 season was one of the most outstanding for Coach Holmquist and the Eagles. The team finished ranked inside the top-10 in the NAIA and ended the year with a 30-4 overall record. Coach Holmquist led the team to a sweep of the GSAC regular season and tournament titles, before heading to the NAIA National Tournament. He was awarded the NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year and the GSAC Coach of the Year.

 

To go along with his incredible accomplishments on the basketball court, Coach Holmquist spent 27 years as Biola’s Athletic Director, before handing of the duties to Dr. Bethany Miller as the school transitioned to NCAA Division II. Coach Holmquist played two seasons as Biola, being named captain his senior season after transferring from Cypress College.

 

The purpose of the Harry Statham Coach of Impact Award is to honor a Coach that has used the power of the coaching platform to make a positive impact on players, coaches, and others. The Coach will be a person of high character and integrity who has served as an excellent role model, and who has deeply impacted the lives of others.

 

The annual winner of the Harry Statham Coach of Impact Award must have coached at the small college level for a majority of his career, and must have a high degree of personal character and integrity. The Coach may be a current or former Coach, and Small College Basketball will honor a living Coach with this award annually. In 2019 Bob Burchard, former Athletic Director and Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Columbia (MO), was named the inaugural award winner. Concordia’s Ken Ammann was named as the winner in 2020, and there was no winner in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Steve Ridder of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical was named the winner in 2022. In 2023, Steven Jenkins of Evangel University received the award.

 

The award is named after Harry Statham, former Head Basketball Coach at McKendree University. Coach Statham is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Basketball Hall of Fame. Upon the conclusion of his 52-year career at McKendree, Coach Statham’s 1,122 wins were the most by any men’s or women’s coach at a four-year college or university in the United States The only other coaches at a four-year institution with 1,000 wins are Pat Summitt, Danny Miles, Mike Krzyzewski, Herb Magee, Dave Holmquist, Tara VanDerveer, Geno Auriemma and Sylvia Hatchell.

 

To nominate a candidate for the award, please send detailed information about the coach, along with examples of how the Coach has impacted the lives of others, to harrystathamaward@gmail.com.

 

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