Rome native Chad Warner returns for his eighth season as Shorter University head men’s basketball coach having set a clear course for excellence for the program. In his first five seasons on The Hill, Warner guided the Hawks to 108 victories, the highest five-year win total for the men’s basketball program in 43 years. It is also the first time in that same time span that Shorter has posted five straight seasons of 15 or more wins.
During 2011-12, the men's basketball team won 34 games and while going 15-0 on the home court of the Winthrop-King Centre. Shorter climbed to No. 1 and reched the NAIA Fab Four, while Warner was named the NABC NAIA National Coach of the Year.
2012-13, saw the men's basketball team reach the ultimate goal, winning the NCCAA national title in it's first season as a member. Warner was honored by the Georgia Basketball Coaches Association by being named Division II Coach of the Year for 2012-13.
Warner came to Shorter in 2007-08 and immediately transformed Shorter into a winner. He took a team that went 6-20 the previous season and guided the Hawks to a 19-12 record while helping Shorter advance to the Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals. The next season, Shorter posted a 10-8 record in SSAC play, good enough for a No. 4 seed and the best SSAC finish in program history.
Warner has coached six NAIA All-Americans, nine SSAC All-Conference selections, two SSAC Newcomers of the Year, 18 Academic All-Conference picks and four NAIA Scholar-Athletes. Seven of Warner’s former players have gone on to sign professional contracts overseas.
Warner came to Shorter from Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, one of NCAA Division III’s most successful basketball programs, where he served as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. At Hampden-Sydney, Warner was involved in all aspects of the program, including recruiting, strength and conditioning, scouting and player development.
Warner helped guide the 2006-07 Tigers to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) championship, the school’s 10th conference title and seventh in the previous 11 years. That year, Hampden-Sydney advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Championship.
His previous coaching experience includes two years as an assistant coach at The College of William & Mary under accomplished head coach Tony Shaver and a previous stint at Hampden-Sydney in 2003-04, when the team ascended to the national No. 1 ranking and captured another ODAC championship.
Warner spent the 2002-03 season as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, the University of Georgia, under legendary head coach Jim Harrick. He spent the previous four years as associate head basketball coach at the Darlington School in Rome.
Warner graduated from UGA in 1998 with a Bachelor’s degree in Public Relations. At Georgia, Warner played basketball for head coach Hugh Durham. In high school at Darlington, Warner was an All-Area and All-State performer on the hardwood while also running track, where he finished second in the state in the 800 meters during his senior year.
Warner and his wife, Karin, have three children, Aly, Caroline and Jack.
