What Others Are Saying About Coach Novak…. “I Feel Bethel University

What others are saying about Coach Novak…. “I feel Bethel University made a tremendous hire in Doug Novak. People are drawn to Doug and players enjoy playing for him. The system Coach Novak utilized at Tulane not only gave players freedom, but they were our most difficult team to scout in conference play.”—Tim Floyd, UTEP, Former Head coach of Chicago Bulls and New Orleans Hornets “Our staff spent two days at Anderson University watching Doug’s team practice. I always learned so much watching him put concepts together. We were a better team because of the time we spent watching Coach Novak’s practices.” —Pat Summitt, Former Head Coach, University of Tennessee “Coach Novak teaches fundamentals in way that helps develop your game on and off the court. Those skills have been instrumental in my pro career”—Cam Wells, The Citadel, First Team All-Southern Conference, Professional Player “Coach Novak was by far one of the best coaches that I had my entire career. He always paid close attention to details, his constant work-ethic, and the preparation that he brought to the game of basketball was superior. He helped to make me a far better player and yet at the same time, he helped me grow as a person as well. He is truly a great teacher of the game along with being a great person and friend. To this day, I still use many of the skills that Coach Novak taught me and I will always be grateful for him taking the time out to be a great coach to me!!!”— Demetrius Nelson, The Citadel, First Team All-Southern Conference, Professional Player “Coach Novak enhanced the skills I had, then helped me develop more skills while making me a more versatile player.”—Jordan Callahan, Tulane University All-Time leading 3pt shooter, Professional “Coach Novak has a great offensive mind. He taught me as a point guard when I needed to score and when I needed to get my teammates involved. He took my skills and talents up another level.”—Ricky Tarrant, Tulane University/ University of Alabama, First team All-Conference USA “Doug Novak is one of the brightest coaches in the country. He is nationally known as highly cerebral and a great thinker of the game. Remarkably, his integrity matches his intellect. Bethel has hit a home run in hiring him.”—Jimmy Tillette, Former Head Coach, Samford University “Since the end of the 2012-13 college basketball season, there have been over 100 institutions that have named a new head coach to lead their men’s basketball program. I have told many coaches within our profession that the best hire at any level was Bethel University appointing Doug Novak to be it next mens basketball coach. Doug is a man of character, integrity, and tremendous wisdom. He will create a culture of excellence within the mens basketball program that will be evident throughout the Bethel Campus, in the classroom and on the floor. The young men who will play for Coach Novak are so fortunate to have one of the best teachers of the game of basketball and life to invest in them during their time at Bethel. I would be honored to have my son play for Doug Novak. I have been blessed to serve as a head coach for 23 years and there is no one in my profession that I have more respect for a man or coach than Doug. I applaud the Bethel administration for their decision and look forward to watching the success of Bethel basketball.” —Lenny Acuff, Head Basketball Coach, University of Alabama-Huntsville, 6-time GSC Coach of the Year “Doug Novak is one of the best teachers in this business. His ability to teach and coach the game of basketball is second to none. As good as he is on the court, he is even better off it. He is the complete package. Doug and his family will make an immediate impact at Bethel University. Bethel hit a grand slam with this hire.” —Jason Taylor, Head Basketball Coach, Anderson University “In 24 years of coaching, I've crossed many paths of a lot of different coaches, however, Doug is one of the few that shares the passion, accountability, and service before self attitude that separates good from great...furthermore, his love for his family and desire to model young adults to men is second to none." —Matt Driscoll, Head Coach Basketball Coach, University of North Florida “Coach Novak is a true teacher of the game that pushes you to your limits and expects nothing than your best because he knows you would only be cheating yourself if you didn't give it your all. Coach can see the potential in you that you may not even be able to see in yourself in my case I was a mediocre high school basketball player on a team full of stars that never thought college basketball was foreseeable in my future! Coach came to me after a game and was able to break down three plays involving myself and told me what I did and why it was a good, which absolutely blew my mind that someone was looking at me! Now with Coach Novak he's never afraid to tell you the truth! On my recruiting visit he told me that I wasn't worth the scholarship he was giving me but he felt with the right work ethic I would more than surpass that! Four years later I held and still hold the single season record for blocked shots and rebounds along with various other records for Anderson University but outside of basketball he has taught me to strive for excellence in everything I do!” —Osvaldo Haynes, Anderson University, First Team All-CVAC “I got to see Doug Novak’s work first-hand when I was the Director of Athletics at The Citadel and he was Ed Conroy’s top assistant. I was very impressed with how Doug handled young men, not only on the basketball court or in the classroom, but helping them grow and develop overall. He fully understood and embraced a difficult school like The Citadel because of its military affiliation, and I know that he will do a terrific job at Bethel, a place that he wants to be and succeed. I found Doug to have unwavering loyalty to the institution and to his players. On the floor, I was fascinated with his work with defenses as each time down the floor, the team seemed to look forward to the challenge. Offensively, I loved how every possession was taken seriously and vitally important.” —Les Robinson, Former Head Coach, North Carolina State “I have seen what Doug Novak can do with my own eyes. When I was coaching at College of Charleston – The Citadel’s rival – he and Coach Ed Conroy had his players ready in all aspects of the game: offensively, defensively, transition, in-bounds plays and throughout it all, his players kept their cool and knew what to do in every situation. They were always well-coached, gave is fits all of the time and beat us more times than I care to recall. Off the court, I found Doug to be a gentleman in every sense of the word. There is no doubt that he will do a fine job at Bethel, as he has done at Tulane, The Citadel, and Anderson. He is a winner.” —Bobby Cremins, Former Head Coach, Georgia Tech, College of Charleston “I admire the heck out of Doug. I spent a lot of time with him when I was the Head Coach at Clemson. He is a very innovative and creative coach.” —Larry Shyatt, Head Basketball Coach, University of Wyoming .

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