A new era for Missouri State men’s basketball officially began on March 22, 2018 with the introduction of Dana Ford as the program’s 18th head coach.
In 2022-23, the new-look Bears featured 14 new faces and ultimately turned the squad into Valley contenders. The Bears landed an All-MVC selection in second-teamer Donovan Clay and All-Bench Team honoree Chance Moore. Clay, who was also on the MVC All-Defensive Team, led the Bears in scoring (11.9 ppg) and assists (108) while becoming the first Bear since 2018-19 to reach the century mark in assists. Moore averaged 10.6 points per game and racked up 17 double-figure scoring games.
Ford's fifth season concluded with a 12-8 conference record, making him the first sideline boss in program history to collect a dozen or more conference wins in three straight seasons. The Bears allowed just 63.2 points per game on the year, which ranked 24th nationally and was the club’s best scoring defense in more than a decade. MSU also eclipsed its season record for blocked shots (140) -- a mark that had held for nearly a quarter century -- and ranked second in The Valley in rejections.
In a breakout 2021-22 campaign, Missouri State finished the season as one of the nation’s most-efficient offensive teams, ranking 2nd nationally in free throw percentage (.797), 14th in field goal percentage (.482) and 23rd in 3-point FG percentage (.374) -- the only DI team to rank in the top 25 in all three. KenPom also rated the Bears 21st in effective FG percentage (54.6) and 23rd in adjusted offensive efficiency (113.2). MSU led the MVC in all of those metrics, except 3-point percentage, while also leading The Valley in scoring (77.3) and turnovers per game (10.6), which ranked 38th and 34th in the country, respectively.
Likewise, the 2021-22 Bears finished as runners-up in the Missouri Valley Conference, racking up a 23-11 overall record and 13-5 record in the league. The Bears’ season win total was the program’s most since 2011 and the 10th-best in team history. The squad advanced to the MVC Tournament semifinals for the third straight year and also represented The Valley in the NIT in Ford’s first postseason tournament showing at MoState. The Bears also set team records for 3-point field goals (283) while boasting two first-team all-conference players in the school’s all-time best scoring tandem – Gaige Prim and Isiaih Mosley, while Donovan Clay earned MVC All-Defensive Team honors, and Isaac Haney landed on the MVC All-Freshman Team.
For the third time in his head coaching career, Ford was a finalist for the Ben Jobe Award at the conclusion of the 2021-22 season.
During his third season in Springfield in 2020-21, the Bears matched a school record with seven conference road wins and finished third in the MVC standings, going 17-7 overall and 12-6 in the league. The Bears advanced to the MVC Tournament semifinals for the second straight season and became the first Valley team since 2015 to post two players on the All-MVC first team without being a league champion or runner-up. Isiaih Mosley was the Bears first-ever MVC scoring leader and was also the top vote-getter on the Valley’s Most-Improved Team, while Gaige Prim also earned All-MVC first-team laurels after finishing 10th nationally in field goal percentage (.599) and earning a spot on the MVC All-Defensive Team. MSU also boasted a player on the MVC All-Newcomer Team in point guard Demarcus Sharp.
Ford was also a national finalist for the Ben Jobe Award and Skip Prosser Award at the conclusion of the 2020-21 campaign.
In 2019-20, Ford engineered a solid season finish that saw the Bears go 9-9 in the Missouri Valley Conference and upset third-seeded Indiana State in the MVC Tournament quarterfinals. The Bears matched or out-rebounded 24-of-33 opponents, including nine of their last 10, to finish 25th nationally in rebound margin (6.2). The Bears also posted their second-best free throw percentage (.749) of the program’s Division I era and had their highest scoring average in league games (71.6) in 10 years. Despite eight losses by four points or less, MSU boasted two All-MVC performers for the second year in a row with second team selection Keandre Cook and third-teamer Gaige Prim, who also was recognized on the MVC All-Newcomer Team.
In his first season at Missouri State in 2018-19, Ford began the year as the fifth-youngest Division I coach in the nation (33) and helped guide the Bears to a third-place finish in The Valley. In addition to pushing the Bears to their first winning conference record (10-8) since the 2010-11 campaign, two MSU players earned All-MVC honors, including the 2019 MVC Newcomer of the Year, and three players who landed spots on the Valley’s All-Newcomer team.
Ford orchestrated one of the best turnarounds in NCAA history when he accepted the Tennessee State job in 2014-15 as the nation’s youngest Division I head coach at the time. The Tigers went from a 5-26 record his first season to a 20-11 ledger in 2015-16. He earned Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year, NABC District 19 Coach of the Year and the Ben Jobe Award for his outstanding efforts that season.
Over his last three years in Nashville, Ford has led the Tigers to a combined 52-39 record and coached five All-OVC players in addition to two players recognized on the OVC All-Newcomer Team. Under his leadership, Tennessee State also doubled its home attendance average and twice earned votes in the Associated Press Top 25 poll during the 2016-17 season.
A native of Tamms, Ill., Ford is a 2006 graduate of Illinois State University where he was a four-year letterman for the Redbirds under coaches Tom Richardson and Porter Moser from 2002-06. He was a regular starter and led ISU in steals as a senior.
He went on to successful assistant coaching stints at Winthrop and Wichita State under coach Gregg Marshall and later as associate head coach at Illinois State under coach Dan Muller. His coaching resume also includes assistant coaching stops at Chipola (Fla.) College and Tennessee State. He was an assistant for two NCAA Tournament teams at Winthrop (2006-07) and Wichita State (2011-12) as well as a NJCAA national final four run at Chipola College (2008-09). and was responsible for recruiting future NBA talents such as Robert Covington (Clippers) and Fred Van Vleet (Rockets).
Dana and his wife Christina have three daughters, Charlie Rose, Cline and newest addition Courtney (born in July 2023), and three sons, Carson, Cameron and Crain. They are also the parents of another daughter, Promise, who passed in infancy in 2017.
The Fords are also the founders of the Rebound Foundation which raises funds and awareness to help renew and restore women who have experienced a life of domestic abuse. The foundation provides a stable home and fresh start to abuse victims and their children. The Rebound Foundation currently provides homes in Springfield, Mo., and Chicago, Ill.
Ford has also received recognition from numerous community and civic organizations, including a Citizen Service Commendation by the Springfield Police Department in June of 2021 for his help in creating the Bears, Badges and Kids program. Bears, Badges and Kids provides monthly community-wide, basketball-centric events for youth that center on community unity and education.
