- Dane Fife
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Dane Fife Sport(s) Basketball Current position Title Assistant Coach Team Michigan State Biographical details Born July 26, 1979 Place of birth Clarkston, Michigan, USA Playing career 1998–2002
2002Indiana
Gary SteelheadsCoaching career (HC unless noted) 2003–05
2005–2011
2011-pres.Indiana (asst.)
IPFW
Michigan State (asst.)Dane Fife (July 26, 1979 in Clarkston, Michigan) is an American college basketball coach. He is a currently an assistant coach at Michigan State under head coach Tom Izzo.[1]
Fife is the former head coach of the Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) Mastodons men's basketball team and former college assistant coach at Indiana University. Dane is the son of Clarkston High School head coach and former Minnesota Twins pitcher Dan Fife.[2] He is the younger brother of former Michigan basketball captain Dugan Fife.[3]
Contents
Playing career
Fife played basketball and football for Clarkston High School in Clarkston, Michigan. In basketball, he was coached by his father, Dan Fife. After his senior season in 1998, he was named Mr. Basketball of Michigan over runner-up Antonio Gates,[4] and was also named a McDonald's All-American and Parade All-American. A blue-chip recruit in basketball and also a star quarterback, Fife was recruited to play both sports in college. He ultimately committed to play basketball for Indiana University under head coach Bob Knight. He chose Indiana over Duke, Michigan State and Michigan, where his father had played baseball and his older brother Dugan had played basketball. Fife became a vocal supporter of Knight,[5] and nearly transferred from the team to Michigan State[6] following the coach's firing in 2000.[7]
Fife was a starter for the Indiana Hoosiers during their 2002 NCAA runner-up campaign. He finished his career with the Hoosiers having scored 736 total points. Fife also owns Indiana's all-time steals record (180) and earned the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award his senior season of 2001-02.
One of the more well-known plays of his college career came on a controversial call during the final seconds of a 2002 Sweet Sixteen game against Duke. The Blue Devils were down by four points with enough time remaining for one play when Fife was called for fouling Jason Williams on a 3-point shot. Williams' shot was good, and he was given the opportunity to tie the game with a free throw. Fortunately for Fife, Williams failed to connect on the shot from the charity stripe, and the Hoosiers advanced to the Elite Eight by holding on for a 74–73 win. Fife is often asked about the play and denies committing the foul to this day. The Hoosiers continued their NCAA Tournament run, defeating Kent State and Oklahoma before falling to Maryland in the National Championship game, 64–52.
Fife played one season of professional basketball, in 2002 with the Gary Steelheads of the Continental Basketball Association.
Coaching career
Assistant at Indiana
Fife spent two seasons as an assistant coach to Mike Davis at Indiana University before becoming the Mastodons head coach. During his time as an assistant, he concurrently earned a master's degree in athletic administration.[8]Head Coach of IPFW
Fife was named head coach of the IPFW Mastodons basketball team in 2005 at the age of 25.[9] In his first season he led the Mastodons to 10 wins, the most the team had earned in a season since jumping to Division I in 2001.[9] In his fifth season as coach, the Mastodons posted their first ever winning record as a Division I basketball team.[9] Since joining the Summit League in the 2007-2008 season, the Mastodons have finished no worse than fifth place in conference play.The 2009-10 squad produced the first winning record since the program joined Division 1 in 2001.[8]
Before the 2010-2011 season, Fife had considered assistant coaching jobs at Indiana under Tom Crean and the Michigan under John Beilein.[10][11] He ultimately remained at IPFW, where he coached the team to a program-best 18-12 record.[12]
Following the 2010-11 season Fife was contacted by Purdue basketball head coach Matt Painter to fill the associate head coach position. On April 15, 2011 Fife withdrew his name from consideration for the Purdue job.[13]
Assistant at Michigan State
Fife was named assistant coach at Michigan State by Tom Izzo on April 20, 2011. He replaced Mark Montgomery, who was named head coach at Northern Illinois in March of 2011.[14]Head coaching record
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason IPFW (Independent) (2005–2006) 2005–2006 IPFW 10–18 IPFW (United Basketball Conference) (2006–2007) 2006–2007 IPFW 12–17 6–4 3rd IPFW (The Summit League) (2007–present) 2007–2008 IPFW 13–18 9–9 5th 2008–2009 IPFW 13–17 8–10 5th 2009–2010 IPFW 16–15 9–9 5th 2010–2011 IPFW 18–12 11–7 4th IPFW: 82–97 43–39 Total: 82–97 National Champion Conference Regular Season Champion Conference Tournament Champion
Conference Regular Season & Conference Tournament Champion Conference Division ChampionReferences
- ^ http://www.freep.com/article/20110420/SPORTS07/110420031/MSU-hires-Dane-Fife-assistant-coach?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/18/sports/ncaabasketball/18fife.html
- ^ http://www.usbasket.com/coach.asp?Cntry=USA&CoachID=12410&AmNotSure=1
- ^ http://www.peschstats.com/MrBasketball.htm
- ^ http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/2010-09-09-bob-knight-dane-fife-final-meeting_N.htm
- ^ http://noise.typepad.com/hey_joe/2011/04/fife-i-want-to-be-part-of-something-special.html
- ^ http://www.mlive.com/spartans/index.ssf/2009/12/ipfw_coach_dane_fife_spartans.html
- ^ a b http://www.gomastodons.com/coaches.aspx?rc=98&path=mbball
- ^ a b c http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20101204/SPORTS0305/312049948/1085/SPORTS03 Mastodons off to best start as D-I team
- ^ http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100420/SPORTS/4200312/1002
- ^ http://www.umhoops.com/2010/04/20/fife-turns-down-michigan/
- ^ http://www.gomastodons.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball
- ^ http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20110415/BLOGS1002/110419646
- ^ http://www.msuspartans.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/042011aaa.html
IPFW Mastodons men's basketball head coaches George Wehmeister (1973–1974) • Gene Hany (1974–1975) • Gordon C. Stauffer (1975–1979) • Ken Workman (1979–1982) • Tim Russell (1982–1987) • Andy Piazza (1987–1996) • John A. Williams (1996–1999) • Doug Noll (1999–2005) • Joe Pechota # (2005) • Dane Fife (2005–2011) • Tony Jasick (2011– )
Pound sign (#) denotes interim head coach.
Categories:- 1979 births
- American basketball coaches
- American basketball players
- Basketball players from Michigan
- College men's basketball head coaches in the United States
- Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball coaches
- Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball players
- IPFW Mastodons men's basketball coaches
- Living people
- McDonald's High School All-Americans
- Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)
- People from Oakland County, Michigan
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