CORVALLIS, Ore. – Bushnell University’s Chad Meadors was named the 2020-21 Cascade Collegiate Conference Coach of Character, announced Tuesday by the conference office.
Coaches who represent the core values of the NAIA – Respect, Responsibility, Integrity, Sportsmanship and Servant Leadership – were nominated and voted on by the CCC's athletic directors, and the Beacons’ head women’s basketball coach has embodied those core values.
Meadors was named the CCC Coach of the Year in back-to-back seasons (Coach of the Spring in 2021) as the women's basketball team has won two-straight CCC championships. This season, the Beacons won the Spring championship with a CCC mark of 9-1 and finished the year on a ten-game winning streak.
When it wasn’t clear if the 2020-21 season was going to happen due to COVID-19, Coach Meadors and his players were strong advocates for all of the CCC (and non-NCAA DI) schools in Oregon, working with the Oregon Health Authority and the Governor’s office to request policy changes that eventually led to basketball teams being able to return to play for the Spring CCC season.
Under Meadors, his team strives for excellence all around: on the court and off. The Beacons hold a collective cumulative GPA of over 3.60 and had three team members with perfect 4.0 GPAs this year.
Meadors has also made a point to give back to the community. The Beacons partnered with One Hope's "Project Hope" on multiple projects, including Thanksgiving meal prep for victims of the Holiday Farm forest fires, and building sheds for wildfire victims. Bushnell also participated in a Christmas Adopt-a-Family program and spent time working at the Eugene Mission's Women and Children’s Center doing gardening, cleaning the indoor play area and outdoor playground, and deep cleaning in the kitchen and dining areas.
Outside of coaching, Meadors still has a major impact on the Bushnell campus. Along with another faculty member, he led a service trip to Talent, Ore., in May, where a team of seven students (all non-athletes) helped a family who lost their home in the fall fires. They cleared the land of metal and glass, and helped cut and remove dead trees, limbs, and brush.
Meadors serves as an EPIC mentor, providing guidance and a deeper connection to an at-risk Bushnell student. EPIC students get to select their mentor and Chad is always highly sought after. He also frequently guest lectures in classes, speaks at Fellowship of Christian Athletes events, and serves as a Deputy Title IX Coordinator.
Other nominations: LC State’s Austin Johnson, Corban University’s Taylor Kelly