EUGENE, Ore. – Bushnell University's Chad Meadors was named the 2020-21 Cascade Collegiate Conference Coach of Character, announced Tuesday by the conference office.
 
Coaches who represent the core values of the NAIA – Respect, Responsibility, Integrity, Sportsmanship and Servant Leadership – were nominated and voted on by the CCC's athletic directors, and the Beacons' head women's basketball coach has embodied those core values.
 
Athletic Director Corey Anderson said, "Chad is a great leader for his team, the athletic department, and the university. His ability to lead and to lead with positive energy is what makes him the perfect recipient of this prestigious honor."
 
Meadors was named the CCC Coach of the Year in back-to-back seasons (Coach of the Spring in 2021) as the women's basketball team has won two-straight CCC championships. This season, the Beacons won the Spring championship with a CCC mark of 9-1 and finished the year on a ten-game winning streak.
 
When it wasn't clear if the 2020-21 season was going to happen due to COVID-19, Coach Meadors and his players were strong advocates for all of the CCC (and non-NCAA DI) schools in Oregon, working with the Oregon Health Authority and the Governor's office to request policy changes that eventually led to basketball teams being able to return to play for the Spring CCC season.
 
Under Meadors, his team strives for excellence all around: on the court and off. The Beacons hold a collective cumulative GPA of over 3.60 and had three team members with perfect 4.0 GPAs this year.
 
Meadors has also made a point to give back to the community. The Beacons partnered with The Hope Project on multiple projects, including Thanksgiving meal prep for victims of the Holiday Farm forest fires and a Christmas Adopt-a-Family program. The team also spent time during Spring Break working with One Hope on their "Sheds of Hope" project, building sheds in the Bushnell parking lot that were later delivered to families to have somewhere safe and secure to store things on their properties as they are in the rebuilding process after losing everything. The team also spent time working at the Eugene Mission's Women and Children's Center doing gardening, cleaning the indoor play area and outdoor playground, and deep cleaning in the kitchen and dining areas.
 
Outside of coaching, Meadors still has a major impact on the Bushnell campus. Along with another faculty member, he led a service trip to Talent, Ore., in May, where a team of seven students (all non-athletes) helped a family who lost their home in the fall fires. They cleared the land of metal and glass, and helped cut and remove dead trees, limbs, and brush.
 
Meadors serves as an EPIC mentor, providing guidance and a deeper connection to an at-risk Bushnell student. EPIC students get to select their mentor and Chad is always highly sought after. He also frequently guest lectures in classes, speaks at Fellowship of Christian Athletes events, and serves as a Deputy Title IX Coordinator.

Bushnell had a near sweep of the CCC Character Awards in 2021. Along with the Coach of Character award for Meadors, the women's basketball and men's soccer teams were named CCC Teams of Character and men's soccer player Ethan Crofts was recognized as the CCC Male Champion of Character award winner. 
 
What his players have to say:
 
Senior Morgan McKinney: "Coach is incredibly well deserving of this award. Our program takes pride in trying to be the best versions of ourselves every day and coach is the one that leads by example. He came in just a couple years ago and not only has made an impact on the court but as well as helping us become strong women."
 
Junior Aspen Slifka: "Coach Chad genuinely lives his values and shares them with our team. His goal is not just to make us better players, but better people too."
 
Senior Sarah Reinecker: "Coach Meadors is the hardest coach I have every played for and I have never been pushed that hard in my life, but he knows what we are capable of and he pushes us way beyond what he thought our limit was. I have never had a male coach that cares so much about how we are doing mentally, emotionally, and physically outside of basketball and he wants what is best for each and every one of our individual futures. During my freshman year he said, 'my job is to help you grow into strong independent women who are ready to face the world when you finish college, I just get to do that through basketball.' A coach with that mentality will give his all on and off the court for us and that is why we are so successful."
 
Senior Claire Salness: "Coach is one of the most passionate and energetic people I have met and I admire his determination to have a good day, no matter what. He is a champion of character in many ways but he never fails to show how much he really cares about us as individuals. He has helped me through some difficult decisions and held me accountable to help push me to be a better player and person."