| Tom Slyder is taking on one
of the CCIW's biggest challenges: North Park. Anderson athletics photo |
The North Park athletic department introduced Tom Slyder as its
new head men’s basketball coach Tuesday afternoon.
"We are excited to have a person of Coach Slyder's energy, vision
and persuasive ability leading the Viking men's basketball
program," said athletic director Jack Surridge.
Slyder, who comes from nearby Anderson, succeeds coach Dylan Howard, who accepted a position as an assistant men’s basketball coach at Division I Morehead State in Northern Kentucky. Howard was hired last season after spending time as a Division I assistant.
North Park finished 6-19 overall, 2-12 in the CCIW.
“This is a very exciting opportunity,” Slyder said.
“I really believe that North Park is a place where I was
called to be and really felt welcomed here throughout the process.
The University has a lot of selling points and I really believe
that the goal is to get North Park back to a place where basketball
has been very good.”
Slyder served as the head coach at Anderson for the past seven
years, where he led the team to a 102-84 record, including a
Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship in the
2009-10 season, which earned the Ravens an automatic bid to the
Division III NCAA Tournament where they defeated St. Thomas in the
first round. In addition, the 2009-10 squad’s record of 23-6
earned Slyder HCAC and D3hoops.com
Midwest Region Coach of the Year, and it was the Ravens' first
conference title since the 1981-82 season.
“North Park has a national reputation being in the
CCIW,” Slyder said. “As the head coach at Anderson, we
competed against CCIW schools very well. The reputation of the CCIW
getting three schools in the (NCAA) tournament on a regular basis
is very appealing. Certainly we have a long way to get there but
it’s challenge I’m looking forward to.”
In addition to being a successful head coach and assistant coach at
Anderson for the past 19 years, Slyder was also an accomplished
athlete at Anderson as a four-year letter winner for the
men’s basketball team from 1984-88. He earned team MVP honors
as a senior and shot a blistering 60 percent from the three-point
line. He holds the single-season record in steals with 68 and ranks
second all-time at Anderson in that category. Slyder finished his
career as a Raven with 929 points and 380 assists, a mark which
ranks eighth all-time at AU.
“Chicago is a world-class city and the university’s
location is phenomenal,” Slyder said. “The people who
make North Park what it is are exceptional and my family just fell
in love with it. This is where we’re supposed to
be.”
Slyder is a native of Ansonia, Ohio. He and his wife Kathy have
three children: Taylor, Mallory and Katie.