Hall of Fame
Bud Pierce served at the College from 1963 until 1988 as the Athletic Director and Men’s Basketball Coach. In addition to these duties Pierce also coached tennis, baseball, and cross-country and taught several courses during his time at Crown.
Pierce had a tremendous impact on the Athletic Department at the College. When Pierce took over the Athletic Director position in 1963, the only athletic teams in existence at the college were the men’s and women’s basketball teams. Over the course of his twenty-five years in office, Pierce began and administered tennis, football, soccer, cross-country, baseball, wrestling, softball, men’s and women’s basketball, and volleyball. Crown posted six National Championships during Pierce’s tenure and the athletic teams were consistently at the top of their district.
Pierce is also well-remembered for the time and effort he put into the men’s basketball program. His teams made an appearance at the National Tournament for the National Bible College Athletic Association four times and at the National Christian College Athletic Association national tournament one time where he recorded a runner-up finish. The best record Pierce posted while coaching was 27-9. His overall career record is 416-284 and makes him the third winningest for college coaches in Minnesota at the time of this writing.
Pierce received a bachelor’s degree from Bethel College, where he is in the athletic hall of fame as a player, in Physical Education and a master's degree in Sports Psychology from St. Thomas University. Pierce is the founder and past President of the National Bible College Athletic Association. In addition, Pierce founded the Northern Intercollegiate Christian Conference where he also served as President.
Pierce described his time at Crown as, “A great experience. The College had great students and faculty. Teams tried to have Christ as their only audience. There was a tremendous amount of support from the student body at our games.”
