Gary Bailey

Head Coach

Coach Gary Bailey will begin his 8th season as Head Coach in the 2012-13 season. Coach Bailey has guided the Tigers to the NCCAA II National Tournament in all seven seasons, and has advanced to the Elite Eight all seven years. They were crowned National Champions in 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011 and again this past season in 2012. This past season, while winning the National Championship, the team ended the season with a 25-10 mark.

Coach Bailey picked up is 173rd win this past season and is the all-time winningest coach in Grace’s 50 years of basketball history.  Over his seven seasons at GBC, the Tigers have averaged 24.5 wins a year.    Over the last seven seasons, the Tiger’s have a 112-15 record against NCCAA II teams nationally and an NCCAA II Regional record of 69-6.  The

In 2010-11 Bailey earned his 4th consecutive “NCCAA II Midwest Regional Coach of the Year Award.”  In 2009 & 2011 Bailey was honored with the “NCCAA National Coach of The Year” award.  In 2011 he was also selected as the CCSN (Christian College Sports Network) Coach of the Year and the BCAM (Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan) Coach of the Year as the top college coach in the state of Michigan for 2011.  This past season Bailey was invited to coach the Senior All Stars in the Champions of Character game against the area professional players.  He was honored by receiving the Glenn VanWieren Coaching Award in 2012.

Coach Bailey has had the privilege over the last 7 years to coach 8 NCCAA Academic All-Americans, 24 NCCAA Midwest All-Region selections, 13 NCCAA All-Americans, 3 ACCA Academic All-Americans, 7 ACCA All-Americans and 9 players named to National All-Tournament Teams and 5 players selected as the National Tournament MVP.

Bailey comes to Grace with a strong winning tradition. As a player at Wheelersburg High School in Southern Ohio, he helped the “Pirates” to a 64-4 record over four years. Upon graduation, he played at Jordan College where he helped the Suns to winning records from 1978-1982. Assistant Coach Dan George recruited and signed Coach Bailey as a scholarship athlete at Jordan. The two have remained friends since. While employed by Pineview Boys Home in Evart, MI, he took over the head coaching duties where he compiled a record of 153-31 over eight years.

“We will continue to play the toughest schedule we can every year. We are committed to building our program and the best way to do that is to earn the respect of the bigger and well established programs. I think we are doing that.”
- Head Coach Gary Bailey

Contact Coach Bailey at: gbailey@gbcol.edu

Dan George

Assistant Coach

Beginning his 8th year with the Tigers as Assistant Coach, Dan George has been with Head Coach Gary Bailey five National Championship titles in seven years.  Coach George has a unique connection to the program as he was Head Coach at Jordan College and recruited, signed and coached Head Coach Gary Bailey in 1978-82.  The two have remained friends over the years and Bailey knew who to turn to for assistance when he took over the helm of the Tigers in 2005.  “Dan brings a strong sense of leadership and great basketball knowledge to our program,” said Coach Bailey, “but it is his passion for assisting young men in the development of character and life skills that we value most.”  Coach George works with Coach Bohl on defensive strategy and implementation and assists Coach Bailey in sports information, game management, and basketball operations.  He and Assistant Coach Kent Karnemaat initiated the Coaches Roundtable this year, a venue for prayer, leadership development, accountability, and fellowship among the coaches.

Dan played high school basketball at Walton Central School in Walton, New York and college ball at Hartwick College, Oneonta, New York.  He served as Athletic Director and Men’s Basketball Coach at Jordan College where his teams were nationally ranked.  An avid sportsman, Dan enjoys hunting, fishing, and camping and he owns an outdoor consulting/booking business, Quest Expeditions, offering worldwide hunting and fishing adventures.  Dan received a B.A. in History from Hartwick College in 1974 and a M.A. in Education from Michigan State University in 1980.  He currently serves as the Superintendent at Creative Technologies Academy in Cedar Springs, Michigan where he lives with his wife, Debi, and daughter, Dani, and son, Hunter.

Contact Coach George at: dgeorge@ctaschool.com

David Oldebekking

Assistant Coach/JV Head Coach

David Oldebekking will begin his 3rd year as an Assistant Coach at GBC and will again serve as the Head Coach of the JV squad.  David is a graduate of Hamilton High School and Western Michigan University.  He is currently working on his masters degree at WMU.   David is employed by Creative Technologies Academy in Cedar Springs, MI as a middle school teacher.  David coached the Chargers of CTA for two seasons.

Head Coach Gary Bailey had this to say, “Dave has been a friend of the coaching staff here for a number of years.  He has a great knowledge of the game and we wanted to make sure we hired someone that could fit in to what we do.  Dave did an outstanding  job with our first year jv program last year and helping with the varsity this past season.   It is amazing to see the improvement of the new players under Coach O’s guidance.  He has good instincts as a coach.  We are really happy to have him at Grace and we look forward to getting him involved more with the varsity again this season.”

Dave is married to Alicia Oldebekking.  They welcomed their first child, Mason, in September, 2010 and daughter Harper in 2012.  The couple resides in Hudsonville.

Contact Coach Oldebekking at: doldebekking@ctaschool.com

Kent Karnemaat

Assistant Coach

Kent will begin his 3rd year as a volunteer assistant with the Tigers in 2012.  Kent has been involved in many aspects of the program over the last couple of years and has assisted the coaching staff on numerous occasions.

Kent was most recently a coach for the Quad City Mustangs for the past four years.  While with the Mustangs, a West Michigan Home School Team, Kent compiled a record of 55-33.  “We are very fortunate to have our good friend Kent on the staff this season”, said Coach Gary Bailey.  “He is a hard worker and will help in any area that he is asked.  Kent will continue help with practices, the JV squad, and assist during the varsity games with stats.”

Kent has had two sons play for Grace, Nathan who graduated with his associates degree this past year, and Trent, who will begin his 3rd year on the team this fall.  “Grace offers a basketball opportunity at a great level’, said Karnemaat.  I look forward to working with the coaching staff and learning from them.  To be as passionate about basketball as Grace is, and still maintain a more than life attitude, is certainly something I want to be a part of.”

Kent has been sharing life with his wife Kimberly for 24 years.  They enjoy life together in Fremont with their 8 children and two grandchildren.  The Karnemaat’s have recently adopted a 3 year old boy from Korea whom they have named Isaiah.  Kent said, “this will be a great opportunity for our family to share some of God’s many blessings with another who is truely in need.”  As a family, the Karnemaat’s enjoy traveling, anything done outdoors and Tiger Basketball!

Contact Coach Karnemaat:  kent@karnemaatfarms.com

Al Stout

Assistant Coach

Al Stout will be starting his 2nd year as a volunteer assistant coach for the Tigers this year.  He has spent the last three years as a free throw consultant here at Grace.  His involvement with the basketball team escalated from pre-season work three years ago to spending the majority of the season working with the players the last two years.  He was the honorary coach for the Blue squad in 2010 for the 6^th annual Blue/Gold game.

Al has spent the majority of his adult life heavily involved with youth sports.  He officiated high school basketball for many years during the mid 1970’s through the mid 1980’s in the Lansing area during the Magic Johnson, Jay and Sam Vincent era.  He began coaching baseball in the mid 80’s at the Jr. High level, then High School and ended up coaching a college age, area all star team.  He has served youth sports in football, basketball and baseball as an official, coach, official scorer, manager, and organizer for nearly 40 years.

Al has three adult children and six grandchildren.  He has worked in the banking industry the past 42 years and has no plans to retire anytime soon.

“My activities keep me young and active.  My involvement with the Grace Basketball program has been a joy. For me to be involved with such an elite program and a team of the best young men I have ever had the privilege to be around is an absolute thrill.  They are not just great athletes and talented basketball players’, they are men of integrity and champions to the core.”

Contact Coach Stout:  balstout@yahoo.com