Marvin Vanover to be honored at street unveiling

On November 18, long-time director of athletics and physical education Marvin Vanover will be honored when a new street sign bearing his name is unveiled at the Christenberry Fieldhouse. The 5:30 p.m. ceremony marks the naming of Vanover Drive, the road leading from Wrightsboro Road to the fieldhouse. The ceremony and reception will precede a 7 p.m. men's basketball game against Carson Newman College.

Coach Vanover,now the commissioner of the Peach Belt Conference, was chair of the Department of Physical Education as well as the first full-time basketball coach and athletic director. He also coached golf, tennis, and cross country and taught several classes.

Coach Vanover led the Jaguars for 24 years including two straight National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics District 25 championships in 1970 and 1971. Aside from winning the regional and advancing to the NAIA national tournament, the 1969-70 team was ranked fifth in the nation with a 27-3 overall record. In 1970 he was named the NAIA District 25 Coach of the Year as well as the Georgia Collegiate Coach of the Year by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. He received commendations from the mayor of Augusta, the state senate, and the governor, with February 14, 1970 being declared Marvin Vanover Day in Augusta. The governor of Kentucky, Vanover's home state, also named him a Kentucky Colonel.

In 1973, the Jaguars moved up to the NCAA Division II South Atlantic Conference where Coach Vanover led them to a national tournament. He received Coach of the Year honors again in 1975 and 1981 for the conference, and the National Association of Basketball Coaches named him Coach of the Year in the NCAA's six state Southern District in 1981.

He retired as athletics director in 1988, remaining as chair of the physical education department. Beginning in 1989, Coach Vanover became involved with the initial planning of the Peach Belt Conference and was asked to serve as an interim commissioner in April of 1990 for one year. He was named the PBC's first full-time commissioner in June of 1991, at which time he retired from the university. Coach Vanover's success extended beyond his record number of wins. He was the only coach in the conference to have the multiple responsibilities of physical education, athletics, and coaching. He is credited with being the first in the conference to integrate college sports during a time when integration throughout the nation was being met with social and political unrest. He also was the first to recruit international students.

A native of Harlan, Ky., he began his coaching career with a one-year stay at Richard Arnold Junior High School in Savannah, Ga. He also taught and coached at Bolles Military Academy in Jacksonville for five years before making the move to Augusta in 1963. Vanover graduated from Georgia Southern University with a bachelor's degree in physical education. He later served on the university's alumni board, and in 1980 was presented the Lettermen Club Award from his alma mater. He holds a master's degree in physical education from Peabody College.

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