Dane Fife (born July 26, 1979) is an American former

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 ...

player and assistant coach. Fife is the former head coach of the

Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

(IPFW) Mastodons men's basketball team and a was former college assistant coach at Michigan State University under

Tom Izzo Tom Izzo (, ); born January 30, 1955) is an American college basketball coach who has been the head coach at Michigan State University since 1995. On April 4, 2016, Izzo was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Izzo has led the Spart ...

for ten years before leaving to become an assistant coach at his alma mater,

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

. He was let go by Indiana after one season.

Playing career

Fife played basketball and football for Clarkston High School in

Clarkston, Michigan Clarkston is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, United States. A northern suburb of Detroit, located about northwest of downtown Detroit, Clarkston is surrounded by Independence Township, but administered independently since its incorporation i ...

. 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, and was also named a

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger s ...

and

Parade All-American ''Parade'' was an American nationwide Sunday newspaper magazine, distributed in more than 700 newspapers in the United States until 2022. The most widely read magazine in the U.S., ''Parade'' had a circulation of 32 million and a readership of 5 ...

. 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 Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

under head coach Bob Knight. He chose Indiana over

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

, and

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, where his father had played baseball and his older brother Dugan had played basketball. Fife became a vocal supporter of Knight, and nearly transferred from the team to Michigan State following the coach's firing in 2000. Fife was a starter for

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. 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

. 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 three-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 make the free throw, 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 Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

in the National Championship game, 64–52. Fife played one season of professional basketball, in 2002 with the

Gary Steelheads The Gary Steelheads were a professional basketball team. They played in the International Basketball League, Continental Basketball Association, and the United States Basketball League. They were based in Gary, Indiana, United States, and played ...

of the Continental Basketball Association.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1998–99 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 11 , , 17.1 , , .450 , , .243 , , .683 , , 2.1 , , 1.5 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , 3.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1999–2000 , style="text-align:left;",

, 27 , , 22 , , 23.5 , , .455 , , .227 , , .800 , , 3.0 , , 2.0 , , 1.8 , , .2 , , 4.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2000–01 , style="text-align:left;",

, 34 , , 34 , , 32.9 , , .374 , , .306 , , .629 , , 2.8 , , 3.2 , , 1.4 , , .2 , , 5.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2001–02 , style="text-align:left;",

, 37 , , 37 , , 32.7 , , .461 , , .478 , , .702 , , 2.6 , , 2.5 , , 1.4 , , .2 , , 8.7

Coaching career

Assistant at Indiana

Fife spent two seasons as an administrative assistant on the staff of Mike Davis at

. During his time as an assistant, he concurrently earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in athletic administration.

Head coach of IPFW

Fife was named head coach of the IPFW Mastodons basketball team in 2005 at the age of 25, becoming the youngest head coach in NCAA basketball history at the time. 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. In his fifth season as coach, the 2009–10 Mastodons squad posted their first ever winning record as a Division I basketball team. Upon joining the

Summit League The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States from Illinois on the East of the Mississippi River to the Dakotas and Nebraska on the W ...

in the 2007–08 season, the Mastodons finished no worse than fifth place in conference play under Fife. Before the 2010–11 season, Fife had considered assistant coaching jobs at Indiana under

Tom Crean Tom or Thomas Crean may refer to: *Thomas Crean (1873–1923), Irish rugby union player, British Army soldier and doctor *Tom Crean (explorer) (1877–1938), Irish seaman and Antarctic explorer *Tom Crean (basketball) Thomas Aaron Crean (born Ma ...

and Michigan under

John Beilein John Patrick Beilein ( ; born February 5, 1953) is an American professional basketball coach who currently serves as the Senior Player Development Advisor for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Before being hired b ...

. He ultimately remained at IPFW, where he coached the team to a program-best 18–12 record. Fife's teams at IPFW improved their winning percentage from the previous season in each year that Fife coached.

Assistant at Michigan State

Following the 2010–11 season Fife was contacted by Purdue basketball head coach

Matt Painter Matthew Curtis Painter (born August 27, 1970) is an American basketball coach and former player. He is currently the men's basketball coach at Purdue University, having held that position since 2005. Before Purdue, Painter held coaching positions ...

to fill the associate head coach position. On April 15, 2011, Fife withdrew his name from consideration for the Purdue job. 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 Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010. Economics Northern Illinois is dominated by t ...

in March 2011. Fife brought the defensive intensity he possessed as a player to his role as a coach, as the Spartans held opponents below a .400 field-goal percentage from 2011–2015, including ranking second nationally in both 2015–16 (.382) and in 2011–12 (.379), marking the best effort by MSU since 1959. He is also instrumental in MSU's scouting and recruiting efforts. Jeff Goodman and

Jay Bilas Jay Scot Bilas (born December 24, 1963) is an American college basketball analyst who currently works for ESPN. Bilas is a former professional basketball player and coach who played for and served as an assistant under Mike Krzyzewski at Duke Uni ...

ESPN.com ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc. History Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including ...

named Fife one of the best head coaching candidates in the nation. On March 23, 2017, it was rumored that Fife was close to accepting the head coaching position at Duquesne, but shortly thereafter it was reported that he had declined the position. His name was also mentioned as a possibility for the vacant head coaching position at his alma mater,

, in both 2017 and 2021.

Assistant at Indiana

On April 5, 2021, it was announced that Fife would be leaving Michigan State to join

Mike Woodson Michael Dean Woodson (born March 24, 1958) is an American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team. With coach Bob Knight's Indiana Hoosiers, Woodson played collegiate ...

's staff at

. On March 23, 2022, Woodson announced that he had decided not to retain Fife and he would not be returning to the coaching staff.

Personal life

Fife is the son of Clarkston High School head coach and former Minnesota Twins pitcher Danny Fife. He is the younger brother of former Michigan basketball captain Dugan Fife.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fife, Dane 1979 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Michigan 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 Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons men's basketball coaches McDonald's High School All-Americans Michigan State Spartans men's basketball coaches Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from Clarkston, Michigan