By Greg Chandler

Glenn Van Wieren averaged 22 wins per season for Hope, which made 21 appearances in the NCAA Tournament under his tutelage.

After 33 years, 660 victories and 17 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association men's basketball championships, Glenn Van Wieren is retiring as head coach at Hope.

Van Wieren announced his retirement Wednesday, ending a 50-year association with Hope that began when he enrolled at the Holland, Mich., school as a freshman in 1960. He's the second Division III men's basketball coach with 500-plus wins to retire this month, following Rochester's Mike Neer.

"(Hope) is in my fabric. There's no place else I wanted to be, no place else where I felt I needed to be," said Van Wieren, 68, who had been head coach of the Flying Dutchmen since 1977.

"It's time for the next chapter. It's time for the next coach," Van Wieren added.

James Bultman, Hope's president and a former Van Wieren teammate in baseball while they attended the college in the early 1960s, said Van Wieren's announcement marks the end of "an exceptional era in Hope men's basketball."

"As significant as what Glenn has accomplished in intercollegiate sport as both an athlete and coach, I admire him even more for what he has accomplished through sports as an educator," Bultman said. "His influence on young men has been extraordinary. He has been a role model and mentor of their spiritual and social lives, as well as their intellectual and physical (lives). 

"The record of history will show that Glenn and his wife Jackie have truly made a difference for good in the lives of hundreds of Hope student-athletes."

Van Wieren, who coached the Flying Dutchmen to a 21-8 record and the championship of the MIAA tournament this past winter, said he made his decision last week after consulting with his family. He plans to devote his retirement to spending time with his wife, four adult daughters and seven grandchildren.

"I'm so grateful that I was given this opportunity. I am so grateful for the men whose lives have been changed (through their involvement in the basketball program)," Van Wieren said.

A 1964 Hope graduate, Van Wieren earned a total of 11 letters as a student-athlete, lettering in basketball, baseball and cross country. Two years after he graduated, Hope hired him to teach in the college's physical education department, as well as head baseball and cross country coach and assistant men's basketball coach. At age 23, he was the college's youngest faculty member.

In 1977, Van Wieren replaced his mentor, Russ DeVette, as head coach of the men's basketball program. He went 11-10 his first season, then 5-17 -- his only losing season -- his second year. But in the 1981-82 season, with future assistant coach Matt Neil having an MVP season, Hope won the first of its 17 MIAA titles under Van Wieren's direction.

Hope went on to appear in 21 NCAA tournaments, reaching the Sweet 16 six times and the Elite Eight four times. In 1996, Hope clinched its first trip to the NCAA Division III Final Four with a 69-60 victory over Wittenberg in a regional final in Springfield, Ohio. The Flying Dutchmen went on to defeat Franklin and Marshall 76-57 in the semifinals before falling to Rowan, 100-93, in the championship game.

Two years later, Hope went back to Salem, Va., for the Final Four again, defeating Wilkes in the semifinals before dropping a 69-56 decision to an unbeaten UW-Platteville squad in the national championship game. The Flying Dutchmen returned to the Final Four again in 2007, falling to eventual national champion Washington U. in the semifinals before defeating Ursinus in the third-place game.

Van Wieren was inducted into the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan's Hall of Fame in 2003 and received the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. He ends his career as the fourth-winningest coach in NCAA Division III history. He reached the 600-win plateau faster than any coach in Division III history, accomplishing the feat with an 80-71 win over MIAA rival Olivet on Jan. 12, 2008, his 801st game as Hope coach.

He also had a winning record in his 87 games as coach against Hope's archrival, Calvin, as the Flying Dutchmen posted a 46-41 record, including a 78-74 win over the Knights in the MIAA tournament championship game Feb. 28.

A nationwide search for Van Wieren's replacement will begin immediately.

"I think there is some urgency. We will proceed with great dispatch," Bultman said. "But ultimately, we're interested in hiring the right person for Hope."

Van Wieren had an emotional meeting with his players prior to Wednesday's news conference at DeVos Fieldhouse, as he told them of his future plans.

"The last thing I told them was, 'I'm not your coach anymore, but for now until eternity, you will be my friend. I will never forget you,'" he said.