Chet Kammerer

GREENVILLE, S.C. – The 2020 NCCAA Hall of Fame class was announced Friday, and included is former Grace College men’s basketball coach Chet Kammerer. He will join Skip Lord and Dr. Dennis Scott.

Kammerer was a pioneer in the NCCAA, serving as head basketball coach at Grace College during the early years of the NCCAA. He holds the second-best coaching record at Grace, and his team participated in the NCCAA National Championships four times. Kammerer coached a combined 27 years at the collegiate level with a sterling 359-156 record (.697 win percentage). In addition to his coaching success, he still holds the all-time scoring record at Grace with 2,504 points. Kammerer also served as NCCAA President from 1973-1977. Kammerer had later moved onto the professional ranks, including three years as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Lakers and his current position as senior advisor of basketball operations with the Miami Heat. His consistent Christian testimony won many to Christ and challenged others to become strong followers of Christ.

Houghton College’s athletics program has grown to be one of the most respected among small schools in the Northeast under Skip Lord’s direction. As the department’s first full-time athletic director, Lord provided oversight to the college’s transition into NCAA DIII and the Empire 8 Conference, spearheaded a two-year facilities project that exceeded $12 million, and nearly doubled Houghton’s offering of 10 sports to 18. Sports ministry within the department gained focus through his leadership, as Lord himself guided his women’s basketball teams to the Czech Republic on 14 trips.

For over 30 years, Dr. Dennis Scott has been instrumental in molding the lives of men and women through the platform of sports. While pursuing excellence in competition is important, his main goal is to train men and women to use sports to glorify God and serve Him. Scott is a former NCCAA student-athlete and that experience helped mold him into the coach he became. Scott served in a variety of roles at Northland International University for 22 years before he moved to Greenville, South Carolina to start the men’s and women’s golf programs at Bob Jones University (BJU) in 2013. At BJU, he has coached two NCCAA All-Americans, two NCCAA Dan & Kelly Wood Award recipients, and led the men’s team to an NCCAA South Regional Championship and two national tournament appearances.

Kammerer, Lord, and Scott will be officially inducted at the Hall of Fame Dinner on May 28, 2020 during the NCCAA Annual Convention being held in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Editor’s Note: Kammerer was initially announced to be inducted in the 2019 NCCAA HOF class, but due to a family emergency, Kammerer was unable to attend the ceremony and instead will be included with the 2020 class.