Bio

Dale Clayton enters his 24^th season as a member of the Carson-Newman College Athletic Department Staff.  He served 22 years as the Men’s Head Basketball Coach and 16 years as an athletic administrator.  He became the Associate Athletic Director and Coordinator for Student Athletic Success in May 2010.

Clayton, has won more basketball games than any coach in the history of Carson-Newman Basketball with 314 victories.  He is a two-time South Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year, and in 2002 was named the National Association of Basketball Coaches Regional Coach of the year.  In 2005 he was the recipient of the FCA’s John Lotz Barnabus Award, joining a list of previous recipients that included Homer Drew and John Wooden.

He is one of the most respected men in his profession, and to look at his accomplishments, both on and off the court, it is easy to see why.   He led the Eagles to one of the best seasons in school history in 2001-02. The Eagles went 25-6, won the SAC regular season and tournament championships, advancing to the NCAA Division II Sweet 16.  His team set a SAC record by winning 19 conference games in a row.

Clayton’s coaching knowledge came from 15 seasons (10 on the Division I level) as an assistant basketball coach.  Before answering the call from Carson-Newman prior to the 88-89 seasons, he made coaching stops at Milligan College, Delta State, Vanderbilt University, Samford University, and University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

After a one year stop at Delta State University as an assistant coach, Clayton began a six-year stint with the Vanderbilt Commodores of the Southeastern Conference, where he served three years under legendary coach C.M. Newton.

From 1978-84 the Commodores had only one losing season and participated in the National Invitational Tournament in 1984.  Clayton was in charge of developing the Commodores big men including All-SEC performer Willie “Hutch” Jones and Jeff Turner.  Turner, a member of the United States Olympic Team in 1984, was a first round draft choice of the NBA’s New Jersey Nets. Jones was second round draft choice of the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1982 draft. Clayton was also responsible for Vanderbilt’s recruitment of center Will Perdue, who became an All-SEC player and a first round draft pick of the Chicago Bulls.

In 1984, Clayton left Vanderbilt to become the associate head coach at Samford University in Birmingham. During his first year there the Bulldogs went 18-12 and put together back to back winning seasons for the first time since they began competing on the NCAA Division I level.  The following season, Samford fashioned a 16-13 mark and a second place finish in the Trans America Athletic Conference.

After his third year in Birmingham, Ala., Clayton moved to Lafayette, La. for a one-year stop at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The next year, he accepted the position at Carson-Newman.

When the first year at Carson-Newman ended, Clayton’s team had a 12-19 record.  His second team posted a 14-16 record, and his third team improved to 18-9 earning a share of the South Atlantic Conference Championship.  Clayton was named SAC Coach of the Year.

Even with the early success on the court, Clayton did not veer from his promise to maintain a team which also succeeded in the classroom.  Almost all of the seniors that have played for Clayton at Carson-Newman have graduated.  In fact 90% of all the players to play for Coach Clayton have earned their degrees. Also, they were commonly seen on the Dean’s List and the SAC Academic Honor Roll.  On five different occasions and Eagle player has been named the SAC Men’s Basketball Scholar Athlete of the Year.

As an administrator, Clayton has been very active in the NCAA governance structure serving on the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Issues Committee, the Division II Amateurism Project Team, NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Committee, the Division II Men’s National Basketball Committee and became the first basketball Coach to chair that Committee.  He is currently serving on the NCAA Division II Championship Committee.

The former President of the Black Coaches Association was honored by his selection to the National Association of Basketball Coaches Board of Directors.  On the board of directors he served on both the Ethics Committee and the Special Committee on Recruiting Access before becoming the President of the NABC for the 2009-2010 year.  Clayton also served as a delegate for the Josephson Institute of Ethics Basketball Summit.

 He has been an instructor for the Virgin Islands Olympic Basketball Committee, the Fellowship of Christian Athlete Boys Conference, the United States Air Force in Europe Basketball Clinic, and at professional enhancement seminars for head coaches. Clayton as appeared as a guest on ABC’s Nightline, and was featured in a 1998 issue of Sharing the Victory, the FCA’s National Magazine.

A native of Mt. Dora, Florida, Clayton attended Mt. Dora High School before graduating from Milligan College where he was inducted into the athletic Hall of Fame in 2004. Clayton and his wife Pamela, have a daughter Monica who is the Director of Administration for the Nashville Sports Authority.