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Coaches

Coaches
Danielle Cheatham

Danielle Cheatham

Head Coach

danielle.cheatham@src.edu

Danielle Cheatham is the new head volleyball coach at Spoon River College. She first came to SRC in December as the coordinator of the Multi-Purpose Building.

Originally from Farmer City, Cheatham is a graduate of Blue Ridge High School where she played six rotations as a setter/middle/opposite. She earned All-Conference honors three years in a row, and played five years of travel club for Central Illinois Elite.

Cheatham was a collegiate setter for two years at ICC and was named to the All-Region team her sophomore year. She transferred to Central Michigan University, where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, and was named to the Academic All-Mac. She then attended Western Illinois University and earned a Master’s in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Sport Psychology and Ability Diversity. While there, she also received the President’s Excellence in Diversity Leadership award for her time as a graduate assistant in the Disability Resource Center.

After graduating from WIU, Cheatham was the Freshman coach at Dunlap, and then took over the Sophomore positon for the next four years. She also coached five seasons of travel club for Central Illinois Elite ages ranging from 13-18.

Cheatham resides in Canton with her husband and their dog Sadie. When not working, she enjoys spending time with family and watching whatever sport is in season.

Coaches

William “BJ” McCullum

Women’s Basketball Head Coach

William.Mccullum@src.edu

BJ McCullum played basketball and golf at Spoon River College and was also an assistant coach, a head coach, the athletic director and eventually the director of athletics and auxiliary services.

With a record of 118-98 in seven years, BJ’s basketball teams received national rankings as high as 6th in 1989-90 and 3rd in 1990-91. BJ’s best record as an SRC coach was 25-7.

BJ served as an assistant and head coach for over 20 years at three different colleges: Spoon River, Lincoln, and Black Hawk East. His record was 411-276 overall and 394-266 as a head coach. His teams played in three national tournaments and he recruited and/or coached two National Players of the Year and 12 Junior College All Americans. Twenty-Nine of his players went on to play Division I Basketball, including Hall of Fame members Bobby Allen and Vance Clarke. Fourteen players went on to play professionally.

Coaches
John Bassett

John Bassett

Head Softball Coach

Email John Bassett

Bassett joined the Snappers to begin the 2015-16 season and has steadily improved the program. In the 2023 season, Coach Bassett collected his 200th win at Spoon River.  In 2022, the Snappers earned their first conference championship since 1978. The team returns 8 starters for 2023/24 and has tremendous talent in the incoming freshmen class. In Bassett’s 16 year collegiate coaching career, he has accumulated 453 career wins and his teams have earned the following awards:

  • 64 All-Conference
  • 29 NJCAA and NFCA All-Region
  • 54 Academic All-Conference
  • 30 NJCAA Academic All-Americans
  • 8 NJCAA and NFCA All-Americans
  • 4 conference Player of the Year winners
  • 4 conference Pitcher of the Year winners
  • 4 conference Freshman of the Year winners
  • 4 Coach of the Year awards
  • 1 NFCA Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner

Bassett spent 2013-14 as the head coach at NCAA Division-I Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) where he led the Mastodons to a 40-15 overall record, a 13-4 mark in conference play, and a runner-up finish at the 2014 Summit League Softball Championships. During his one year at IPFW, Bassett coached the Summit League Pitcher of the Year, five first team all-conference players, and six total all-conference selections. Bassett’s squad defeated a ranked opponent (#15 Texas) for the first time in school history, and also held a school record RPI ranking of 54 while receiving votes in the USA/NFCA national pools for several weeks.

As the head softball coach at Heartland, Bassett led the program to a 144-48 record during his tenure, helped the Hawks capture the Mid-West Athletic Conference title in each of his three seasons, and won two coach of the year awards in his time at HCC. He coached five All-Americans, including three first team All-American selections, 10 all-region players, including three straight Region 24 Players of the Year, and 20 all-conference selections, including three straight M-WAC Players of the Year, three straight M-WAC Freshmen of the Year, and two M-WAC Pitchers of the Year.

In his third year as the head man in 2013, Bassett was named the M-WAC Coach of the Year as Heartland went 48-12 overall, tied a program best with only one loss in conference action (21-1), and went on to wins its fifth overall and third straight M-WAC championship. In 2012, the Hawks won a program-best 57 games (57-15), went 24-4 in the conference, and captured the program’s fourth overall and Bassett’s second straight M-WAC championship. In his inaugural season in 2011, Bassett was honored as the Region 24 Coach of the Year after leading the Hawks to a 39-21 record overall, a 24-2 M-WAC mark, and their fourth straight Region 24 championship.

Prior to his time at Heartland, Bassett spent three years at Tabor College in Kansas, where he helped turn a program that was 1-20 prior to his arrival to a 16-25 team in his last year, while recruiting the entire squad for a 27-24 season a year after.

Bassett graduated from Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois with a degree business administration. He is married to the former Kristine Birdwell, and the pair have five children: Nick, J.T., Hailey, Emma, and Lauren.

Associate Head Coach Steve Leverton

Assistant Coach Bill Towery

Jake Douglas

Head Coach

Jake Douglas is the current SRC Esports Coach beginning in Spring 2023. He first came to the college in September 2022 as a Business Analyst in the Information Services department.

Originally from Plymouth, IL, Jake has a BS in Organizational Development from Eastern Illinois University, and a Masters of Business Administration degree from Western Governors University. Prior to arriving at SRC, he worked 20 years between the grocery, insurance, and warehousing industries.

Jake has been an avid video gamer since the early 1990’s, starting with Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt, and continues to play games on his Xbox and PC, including Elden Ring, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and the Total War series.

Jake currently resides in Lewistown, and has three daughters that live in Seneca, IL. When not working, he enjoys traveling to his daughters’ school and sports events, playing frisbee golf, and reading.

For more information, email Esports coach or call 309-649-6315. For those interested in being part of the club, fill out the online application today!

John Kurtz

Head Coach

john.kurtz@src.edu

Coaching Experience:

‘17: Eureka College (Assistant Coach)
‘18-‘19: Spoon River College (Assistant Coach)
‘20-‘21: Spoon River College (Head Coach)

Coach Kurtz graduated from Eureka College in 2016 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education. During his time at Eureka College, he served as a 3 year captain for the baseball program. After graduating he began his coaching career, in 2017 Kurtz served as the pitching coach at his alma mater of Eureka College. Following the 2017 season, Kurtz joined the staff at Spoon River College as the Pitching Coach and Recruiting Coordinator. In his 2 years as the Pitching Coach, the program dropped the team ERA by 3 runs per game. In that time the program doubled the programs win total from 8 wins in 2017 to 14 and 16 games in 2018 and 2019.

In 2020, Coach Kurtz was promoted to Head Baseball Coach at Spoon River College. The Snappers were off to a good start with a 9-7 record, including a win over a ranked opponent in the shortened season. The Spoon River College program also graduated 5 players that went onto to play baseball at 4 year programs.

In 2021, the Snapper Program experienced historically success. The Snappers won the most the most games (20) in program history since 1998. Along with breaking the win record for a season the Snappers will also nationally ranked for 3 consecutive weeks with their highest ranking coming in at #15. Additionally during the 2021 campaign several individual records were broken as well including home runs, stolen bases, innings pitched, pitching wins and strikeouts. The Snappers were also able to send 4 players onto 4yr schools to continue their baseball careers.

Coaches
Chance Jones

Chance Jones

Head Coach

​Chance Jones named Head Coach for the Men’s Basketball Team

Chance Jones will begin his second season as Spoon River College Head Men’s Basketball Coach. The Spoon River College Men’s Basketball team will look to build off its’ 20-21 inaugural season. Last year, the Snappers finished the season with a record of 16-8, and were MWAC conference co-champs. SRC also advanced to the region championship game. The Snappers had two athletes voted as all-region/all-conference players, one as Junior College All-American, and were nationally ranked for second half of the season.

“We have high expectations going into the 21-22 season. We return a large amount of key players, and have added some very talented student-athletes to go along with them. We’ve put together a tough schedule and I’m really looking forward to getting started with this group. We plan to continue to make our administration and alumni proud of our student-athletes on and off the court.

Jones previously served as the head boys’ basketball coach at Galva High School (2017-2019), where their record was 39-23 and included a regional final appearance. An earlier coaching run at Galva (2010-2013) ended with Lincoln Trail Conference Championships two years in a row and a 45-11 record.

Jones also served as head men’s basketball coach at Blackhawk East Community College (2014-2016), where his overall record was 50-34. During his last season there, the team finished as Arrowhead Conference Champions, Region 4 Championship Runners Up, with an overall 26-7 record, and ranked 14 in the national polls. The team boasted six academic all-conference award winners.

Other coaching stints were at AlWood High School as the head coach, Putman County High School Sophomore boys’ basketball coach and Wethersfield High School sophomore boys’ basketball coach.

Jones is a 1997 graduate of Abingdon High School, where he played basketball. He went on to play two years at Carl Sandburg College while earning his associate’s degree. Jones also has a Bachelor of Business Administration/Criminal Justice degree from North Central University. He resides in Galva Illinois with his wife Alyssa and their five children – Karstyn (12), Scheyer (10), Koby (7), Dylan (3), and Myles (1).

Kent Jones

Kent Jones

Assistant Coach

Kent Jones has been hired as Spoon River College Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach.

Kent’s coaching experience started in 1999, when he was hired to coach Junior High Boys Basketball for Abingdon Junior High School. He was the 7th grade coach from 1999-2005, winning 2 regional titles. He was an assistant varsity boys’ basketball coach from 2005- 2011, assisting in winning 2 regional titles and a Sweet 16 appearance. Kent became the Varsity Boys Basketball Head Coach for Abingdon High School in 2012. Kent complied a Varsity coaching record of 150-89, winning a regional championship in 2015, 7 regional final appearances, and 2019 Prairieland Conference champions. He was named IBCA district coach of the year in 2015, and was also named Galesburg Register Mail Coach of the Year in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Kent also coached baseball in Abingdon, where he was a part of 3 straight sweet 16 appearances and back to back Elite 8 runs.

SRC Head Coach Chance Jones commented, “I extremely excited to announce the hiring of Kent to our program. He brings a ton of coaching experience and success to the program, as well as playing experience at the college level. He’s done a phenomenal job at every position, and I believe our student athletes will benefit greatly from his leadership.”

Kent graduated from Abingdon High School in 1993. He then went on to play at Carl Sandburg Community College and earned an associate degree in science. He continued his playing career at Division II Limestone College in Gaffney, SC., playing for 2 years 1995-1997.

“I am excited to start a new journey with Spoon River Community College Men’s basketball program and to be coaching alongside Coach Chance Jones. I would like to thank Spoon River Community College President Oldfield, Athletic Director Bassett, hiring committee, and Coach Chance Jones for the opportunity to be a part of a new experience in my coaching career. I am honored and thrilled to be a part of the Spoon River Community College family. I am eager to get started and help make the Spoon River Men’s basketball program, players, and community a success. I have been coaching basketball and baseball in Abingdon for 23 years and can’t wait for this new challenge.”

Kent resides in Abingdon, Illinois with his wife Leslie Jones. They have 2 children Madison (22) Kaden Jones (18).

Drew Cotton

Drew Cotton

Volunteer Assistant Coach

Drew Cotton joins the SRC coaching staff with a strong resume of coaching experiences.  Cotton has coached with Jones for a total of five seasons at the NJCAA and high school levels, serving most recently as the Assistant Coach at Black Hawk College East Campus (2015-2016) and the Junior Varsity Coach at Galva High School (2018-2019).  Cotton is a 2004 Graduate of Kansas State University, earning his BS in Agricultural Economics and a 2009 Graduate of University of Florida earning a MS in Animal Science.

When asked about the upcoming season Cotton says, “I know there is a rich basketball tradition at Spoon River College. It is an exciting opportunity to be a part of restarting that tradition, under the guidance of Coach Jones the program will be an immediate success.  I am confident that we know what it takes to build a successful program that wins games and graduates strong student athletes.”

Chance Jones

Chance Jones

Head Coach

Chance Jones named Head Coach for the Men’s Basketball Team

Chance Jones will begin his second season as Spoon River College Head Men’s Basketball Coach. The Spoon River College Men’s Basketball team will look to build off its’ 20-21 inaugural season. Last year, the Snappers finished the season with a record of 16-8, and were MWAC conference co-champs. SRC also advanced to the region championship game. The Snappers had two athletes voted as all-region/all-conference players, one as Junior College All-American, and were nationally ranked for second half of the season.

“We have high expectations going into the 21-22 season. We return a large amount of key players, and have added some very talented student-athletes to go along with them. We’ve put together a tough schedule and I’m really looking forward to getting started with this group. We plan to continue to make our administration and alumni proud of our student-athletes on and off the court.

Jones previously served as the head boys’ basketball coach at Galva High School (2017-2019), where their record was 39-23 and included a regional final appearance. An earlier coaching run at Galva (2010-2013) ended with Lincoln Trail Conference Championships two years in a row and a 45-11 record.

Jones also served as head men’s basketball coach at Blackhawk East Community College (2014-2016), where his overall record was 50-34. During his last season there, the team finished as Arrowhead Conference Champions, Region 4 Championship Runners Up, with an overall 26-7 record, and ranked 14 in the national polls. The team boasted six academic all-conference award winners.

Other coaching stints were at AlWood High School as the head coach, Putman County High School Sophomore boys’ basketball coach and Wethersfield High School sophomore boys’ basketball coach.

Jones is a 1997 graduate of Abingdon High School, where he played basketball. He went on to play two years at Carl Sandburg College while earning his associate’s degree. Jones also has a Bachelor of Business Administration/Criminal Justice degree from North Central University. He resides in Galva Illinois with his wife Alyssa and their five children – Karstyn (12), Scheyer (10), Koby (7), Dylan (3), and Myles (1).

Kent Jones

Kent Jones

Assistant Coach

Kent Jones has been hired as Spoon River College Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach.

Kent’s coaching experience started in 1999, when he was hired to coach Junior High Boys Basketball for Abingdon Junior High School. He was the 7th grade coach from 1999-2005, winning 2 regional titles. He was an assistant varsity boys’ basketball coach from 2005- 2011, assisting in winning 2 regional titles and a Sweet 16 appearance. Kent became the Varsity Boys Basketball Head Coach for Abingdon High School in 2012. Kent complied a Varsity coaching record of 150-89, winning a regional championship in 2015, 7 regional final appearances, and 2019 Prairieland Conference champions. He was named IBCA district coach of the year in 2015, and was also named Galesburg Register Mail Coach of the Year in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Kent also coached baseball in Abingdon, where he was a part of 3 straight sweet 16 appearances and back to back Elite 8 runs.

SRC Head Coach Chance Jones commented, “I extremely excited to announce the hiring of Kent to our program. He brings a ton of coaching experience and success to the program, as well as playing experience at the college level. He’s done a phenomenal job at every position, and I believe our student athletes will benefit greatly from his leadership.”

Kent graduated from Abingdon High School in 1993. He then went on to play at Carl Sandburg Community College and earned an associate degree in science. He continued his playing career at Division II Limestone College in Gaffney, SC., playing for 2 years 1995-1997.

“I am excited to start a new journey with Spoon River Community College Men’s basketball program and to be coaching alongside Coach Chance Jones. I would like to thank Spoon River Community College President Oldfield, Athletic Director Bassett, hiring committee, and Coach Chance Jones for the opportunity to be a part of a new experience in my coaching career. I am honored and thrilled to be a part of the Spoon River Community College family. I am eager to get started and help make the Spoon River Men’s basketball program, players, and community a success. I have been coaching basketball and baseball in Abingdon for 23 years and can’t wait for this new challenge.”

Kent resides in Abingdon, Illinois with his wife Leslie Jones. They have 2 children Madison (22) Kaden Jones (18).

Drew Cotton

Drew Cotton

Volunteer Assistant Coach

Drew Cotton joins the SRC coaching staff with a strong resume of coaching experiences.  Cotton has coached with Jones for a total of five seasons at the NJCAA and high school levels, serving most recently as the Assistant Coach at Black Hawk College East Campus (2015-2016) and the Junior Varsity Coach at Galva High School (2018-2019).  Cotton is a 2004 Graduate of Kansas State University, earning his BS in Agricultural Economics and a 2009 Graduate of University of Florida earning a MS in Animal Science.

When asked about the upcoming season Cotton says, “I know there is a rich basketball tradition at Spoon River College. It is an exciting opportunity to be a part of restarting that tradition, under the guidance of Coach Jones the program will be an immediate success.  I am confident that we know what it takes to build a successful program that wins games and graduates strong student athletes.”