Athletics Hall of Fame – February 11, 2017
The longest tenured coach in Coker history, Dan Schmotzer compiled a record of 374-412 and coached multiple all-conference, all-region and All-American players, including four members of the Coker Athletics Hall of Fame; Dennis Woolfolk, Ray Henry, Monty Carr and Dan Shanks, Coker’s most decorated men’s basketball player.
In 1994, Dan earned conference coach of the year honors after leading his team to the Carolinas Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (CIAC) regular season title. His 1994-95 team won a school-record 10 straight games, and they were ranked No. 14 nationally in Division II.
In addition to his success on the basketball court, Dan spent six years as the head men’s golf coach at Coker from 1998-2003. He led the Cobras to three NCAA South/Southeast Regional appearances and Chris Taylor qualified for the NCAA Division II National Championship as an individual in 2002 and 2003. In 2003, he was awarded region coach of the year honors.
Dan, along with his entire 1987-88 men’s basketball team, was inducted into the Coker Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012. The 87-88 season marked Dan’s first at Coker, and the first time the men’s program reached 20 wins win a season. The Cobras finished the season with a record of 21-8, the best record in school history at the time. The Cobras made their first-ever trip to the NAIA District 6 postseason tournament and finished the season ranked No. 12 in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just under 64 points per game.
Dan is a native of Cleveland, Ohio. Along with his twin brother Dave, he attended St. Edward’s University in Texas, where he was two-sport athletes playing basketball and baseball. After graduating from St. Edward’s, he returned to Cleveland where he began his career at Trinity High School. Thanks to the flip of a coin, Dan became the basketball coach and Dave the baseball coach. After five seasons at Trinity, Dan returned to Texas to begin his collegiate coaching career at Texas Christian University. He spent 10 years as an assistant coach for the Horned Frogs. In addition to being a member of the Coker Athletics Hall of Fame, he was inducted into the Trinity High School Hall of Fame in 1996, and was inducted into the Padua Franciscan High School Hall of Fame in 2010.