April 10, 2008

Chris Holtmann has joined the Lipscomb University basketball staff as an assistant coach, head coach Scott Sanderson announced Thursday. Holtmann replaces Hubie Smith, who departed Lipscomb last month to accept a position at The Ensworth School.

"Chris is going to be a great asset to our program," said Sanderson. "When you're trying to put your basketball team together, you want all pieces to fit and it is the same thing with putting your staff together. He's a man of great faith and good character and has unbelievable Christian principles.

"After I met him and talked to him, it felt good. Sometimes there is a thing that just draws you to someone. After talking to him I knew I wanted to pursue it further and after talking to him again I knew that he would be right for us."

Holtmann comes to Lipscomb from Gardner-Webb where he spent five seasons, including the last four as associate head coach.

Lipscomb assistants Shaun Senters and Jay Walton both knew Holtmann previously and Coach Sanderson has been impressed with the preparation of Gardner-Webb while facing them in Atlantic Sun play.

"I have a lot of respect for Lipscomb, the program, the staff, and Coach Sanderson-how they go about doing things, how they compete defensively and I'm excited for the opportunity to be a part of that and contribute any way I can," Holtmann said.

Holtmann is known as one of the top recruiters in the nation. While serving as the head recruiter at Gardner-Webb, Holtmann landed two top-100 freshman classes, including the No. 48-ranked class nationally in 2006.

Coach Sanderson views Holtmann as a complete coach that will benefit all aspects of the Lipscomb program.

"Both of my assistants are very excited about him being here," said Sanderson. "On the floor coaching, in practice, recruiting, you name it he is going to do a little bit of everything for us," said Sanderson.

Holtmann views the move to Lipscomb as a perfect opportunity to hone his recruiting skills while returning closer to home.

"I'm from Kentucky and coached in Indiana," said Holtmann. "This is very familiar to me in terms of a recruiting base. They have a couple of Indiana kids. It's exciting to be a little closer to my base."

Holtmann is entering his 12th season as a college coach. He entered the collegiate coaching ranks as a graduate assistant coach at his alma mater Taylor University in 1997-98. He served as the junior varsity coach in addition to his duties as an assistant coach for the varsity squad at the NAIA powerhouse.

The following year Holtmann moved to Beaver Falls, Pa., where he served as an assistant coach for the Geneva College Tornadoes.

Holtmann returned to Taylor University in 1999 as an assistant coach under NAIA Hall of Fame coach Paul Patterson. Holtmann directed the recruiting program and elevated the quality of the Taylor program with a pair of Top 40 prospects who led Taylor to back-to-back conference titles with two 25-win seasons. Taylor finished those seasons at No. 8 and No. 13 in the NAIA national polls.

After four seasons at Taylor, Holtmann joined the Gardner-Webb staff in 2003 and helped guide the Bulldogs to the Atlantic Sun regular season title in 2004-05.

At Gardner-Webb, Holtmann recruited first-team All-Atlantic Sun members Simon Conn, Brian Bender, and Thomas Sanders. Sanders was named the 2008 Atlantic Sun Player of the Year. Holtmann also brought two-time Defensive Player of the Year Tim Jennings and 2008 Atlantic Sun Freshman of the Year Nate Blank to the Bulldogs.

Holtmann is a native of Nicholasville, Ky. He played at Jessamine County High, leading his squad to an appearance in the Elite Eight of the Kentucky State Tournament.

As a standout player under Coach Patterson at Taylor, Holtmann was named a NAIA All-American in 1994. Serving as team captain the same year, Holtmann guided Patterson's squad to the top spot in the NAIA polls en route to a 29-win season.

Holtmann graduated from Taylor in May 1994 with a degree in Psychology and later earned a Master's Degree in Athletic Administration from Ball State in July 2000. Holtmann and his wife, Lori, have been married for eight years.

"Scott shared with me his vision for the program and how much he wanted me to be a part of that," said Holtmann. "It is really exciting for me to be a part of the Lipscomb family."