Bob Hoffman (born July 18, 1957) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach who is currently the head coach at the

University of Central Oklahoma The University of Central Oklahoma (UCO or Central State) is a public university in Edmond, Oklahoma. It is the third largest university in Oklahoma, with more than 17,000 students and approximately 434 full-time and 400 adjunct faculty. Founde ...

Early life

He is a graduate of

Putnam City High School Putnam City High School (commonly, PC, Putnam City Original, and PCO) is a secondary school located in Warr Acres, Oklahoma, a northwestern suburb of metropolitan Oklahoma City, U.S.. It is one of three high schools in the Putnam City School Dis ...

Warr Acres, Oklahoma Warr Acres is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. It was established after World War II by C.B. Warr, a dynamic businessman, builder, and commercial developer. The population was 1 ...

and went to

Oklahoma Baptist University Oklahoma Baptist University (OBU) is a private Baptist university in Shawnee, Oklahoma. It was established in 1910 under the original name of The Baptist University of Oklahoma. OBU is owned and was founded by the Baptist General Convention of O ...

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

to play basketball. He met his wife there and after graduation he was hired at Piedmont High School in

Piedmont, Oklahoma Piedmont is a city primarily in Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States, though a small part of it is in Kingfisher County. It is a part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area. The population was 5,720 at the 2010 census, a 56.7 percent increase ...

just northwest of Oklahoma City.

Coaching career

He was then hired as the head women's basketball coach at

Southern Nazarene University Southern Nazarene University (SNU) is a private Nazarene university in Bethany, Oklahoma. History The history of the institution is one of various mergers and, therefore, one of differing institutions. While SNU claims its founding date as ...

, where his team won the NAIA national championship in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

. From there he returned to his alma mater as men's coach for the following ten years. From OBU he was the coach at

University of Texas-Pan American A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

then back to Oklahoma where he served as an assistant to

Kelvin Sampson Kelvin Dale Sampson (born October 5, 1955) is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach for the University of Houston of the American Athletic Conference. Early life Sampson was born in the Lumbee Native American community of ...

at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

until Sampson was found to have committed numerous NCAA violations.Mercer Bears coach Bob Hoffman took the long, winding road to NCAA stage
Alexander, Chip.

The News & Observer ''The News & Observer'' is an American regional daily newspaper that serves the greater Triangle area based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The paper is the largest in circulation in the state (second is the '' Charlotte Observer''). The paper has be ...

(Raleigh), 22 March 2014 After an investigation of the entire coaching staff, Hoffman was cleared by the NCAA of any wrongdoing, and parted ways with the program. Prior to his role at Mercer University, Hoffman went on to coach in the American Basketball League and the NBA Development League. He was hired on March 27, 2008 to replace Mark Slonaker. He led

Mercer Mercer may refer to: Business * Mercer (car), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925) * Mercer (consulting firm), a large human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City * Mercer (occupation), a merchant or trader, ...

to the 2012 CollegeInsider.com Tournament championship as well as the University's first NCAA Tournament victory in an upset of No. 6 Duke on March 21, 2014. Hoffman won his 400th game as a men's college coach when Mercer defeated

Lipscomb University Lipscomb University is a private university in Nashville, Tennessee. It is affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The campus is located in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville, between Belmont Boulevard to the west and Granny White Pike on ...

on January 26, 2013. With the victory, Hoffman was 488–239 as a men's and women's college coach. In addition, he previously served as head coach of the

Arkansas Aeros Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

in the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...

and of the

Rio Grande Valley Vipers The Rio Grande Valley Vipers are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Edinburg, Texas, and are affiliated with the Houston Rockets. The Vipers play their home games at the Bert Ogden Arena. The Vipers have won f ...

in the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

Hoffman was the first coach in NCAA Division I Men's basketball history to post a victory in each of the collegiate post season basketball tournaments. He later coached at

Mercer University Mercer University is a private research university with its main campus in Macon, Georgia. Founded in 1833 as Mercer Institute and gaining university status in 1837, it is the oldest private university in the state and enrolls more than 9,000 ...

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of Geo ...

from 2008 to 2019. Hoffman ended his tenure at Mercer with a record of 209–165 (.572).

Head coaching record

Women's

Men's

Personal life

Hoffman is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. Hoffman and Mercer President

William D. Underwood William D. Underwood has been the eighteenth President of Mercer University since 2006. He was the interim President of Baylor University from 2005 to 2006. Biography Underwood graduated from Oklahoma Baptist University and received a J.D. from ...

are both graduates of

References

Living people 1957 births American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Oklahoma Basketball players from Oklahoma Central Oklahoma Bronchos men's basketball coaches Mercer Bears men's basketball coaches Oklahoma Baptist Bison basketball coaches Oklahoma Baptist Bison basketball players Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball coaches Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm women's basketball coaches Southern Nazarene University faculty Sportspeople from Oklahoma City UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros men's basketball coaches Forwards (basketball) Guards (basketball) {{US-basketball-coach-stub