Kim Elders
Men's Basketball Coach
Phone:
616-222-1425 (Press 4 for Coaches Directory and then 2 for Kim Elders)
Email:
Kim_Elders@cornerstone.edu
No program in NAIA Division II has experienced more success over the past six years than Cornerstone University’s. During that period, head coach Kim Elders has led his Golden Eagle teams to four Final Fours, three 30-plus win seasons, and one National Championship. Elders tops all coaches over the six-year span with 179 victories.
Elders, who begins his twelth season as the CU Coach, has a career record of 280-116. Elders’ teams have averaged 25 wins/year since he took the helm in 1993. His victories and winning percentage (.703) rank number one at the school. Since the 1995-96 campaign when the CU program began to establish national level status, Elders has garnered several coaching awards, including: WHAC Coach of the Year (’96 & ’99), NAIA National Coach of the Year (’99), NABC National Coach of the Year (’99), and BCAM Coach of the Year (’99). Elders also earned National Coach of the Year in 1996 in the NCCAA.
During his tenure, CU has been in the Top 20 seven times. He has coached nine academic All-Americans, 20 All-Conference players and nine All-Americans.
On three different occasions Elders has taken his teams overseas on mission’s trips. The first one was in 1998 to the Philippines. Two years later they spent three weeks in Singapore, ministering and putting on clinics. This past May, the team took a 12 day trip back to the Philippines, sharing the Gospel in many of the areas they did four years earlier.
“These trips were highlights of my career,” says Elders. “To use the abilities that God has given us to help further His kingdom is an opportunity not everyone gets. They were life-changing events for all of us.”
Elders began his coaching career in 1981 at Grand Rapids Baptist Academy, leading the JV Mustangs to a 70-29 record in five seasons. The next four years he spent at Freedom Baptist Academy where he guided that athletic program during it’s inaugural years. He served as Athletic Director and Boys Basketball Coach during that time.
Arriving at Cornerstone in 1990, Elders responsibilities included Assistant Basketball Coach and Baseball Coach. Three years later, he was named Head Basketball Coach, inheriting the team that went 8-24 the previous season.
Elders is a 1977 graduate of Grand Valley State University where he earned his B.A. in Physical Education. In 1993, he received his M.A. in Athletic Administration from Western Michigan University.
Besides coaching, Elders’ other responsibilities at CU include Associate Athletic Director and professor in the Kinesiology Department. He is married to Holly and has four step children: Nic , Zac, Cam, and Missy.
