| “I am very pleased that Jim has accepted our invitation,” said Janzen. “He comes to us with a terrific reputation. He has a great work ethic, is a student of the game, is a proven recruiter and is known as a team player. Jim is a person of integrity and understands the distinctiveness of a Christian university such as Fresno Pacific University.”
Hall follows Diane Wiese who resigned March 31 after 10 seasons to become the North Valley Area Director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in Modesto.
Hall took over a women’s program at Simpson that had never experienced a winning season. His first team finished with a 14-14 record and two years later he guided Simpson to the 2002 with a National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Division II national championship. In three seasons in Redding Hall achieved a 54-40 record.
Not one to back away from a challenge, Hall moved to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II member UMM, a team that had gone winless (0-28 and 0-28) the two previous seasons.
The Cougars improved to 13-14 in Hall's second season (2004) as UMM transitioned to non-scholarship NCAA Division III. The Cougars were 10-15 this season.
Janzen called Hall a tireless worker and a true champion. “Jim has experienced both ends of the spectrum. He has won a national championship, and he has built a program from the ground up. I think he will pick up right where Diane (Wiese) left off,” Janzen said.
Hall, a native of Bedford, Indiana, is a 1995 graduate of Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa. While earning a bachelor's degree in history, Hall led the NCAA Division III in scoring as a junior and senior. Hall completed a master of science in education (physical education) at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri, in 1997.
“I was really impressed with the vision for FPU’s future and how athletics plays an important role in accomplishing the University's mission,” Hall said. “I'm going to work hard to build a program based upon integrity that the university and city of Fresno can be proud of.”
Hall will begin recruiting immediately. He and wife Rachel will move to the Valley sometime this summer. He will also teach in FPU’s kinesiology department.
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Fresno Pacific University offers undergraduate and graduate programs that stress solid academic preparation and a strong ethical foundation. Each year more than 2,000 traditional and adult students attend classes on the 42-acre main campus in southeast Fresno or centers in Visalia and Bakersfield. The university also reaches 12,000 students across the nation and around the world through professional development studies programs. The only four-year Christian university in the Central Valley, FPU is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and ranked in the top quarter among Western universities master’s category by U.S. News & World Report.
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