Van Chancellor’s roots are cemented deep in the rural community of Nanih Waiya in Winston County.
His dad was a cotton farmer, so Chancellor learned hard work at an early age. His love for basketball started when he was eight with his first basketball goal. Chancellor’s basketball highlights include winning high school state championships and two SEC championships, coaching in the Final Four, winning a gold medal for his country, and traveling twice to the White House. His journey culminated in his induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007.
His journey began as a player at Louisville High School before enrolling at East Central Junior College in Decatur. Van quickly found out that his playing days were numbered. He realized his true calling as he was inspired to go into coaching by East Central Warrior Coach Denver Brackeen.
While attending Mississippi State he was assigned to practice teach math at Noxapater High School. “The first semester I was practice teaching, and the second semester I was hired to coach the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams,” Chancellor said. His coaching journey would take him to Horn Lake and Harrison Central as his coaching reputation quickly grew. He won state championships at Harrison Central, and then, out of the blue in 1978, Ole Miss Athletic Director Warner Alford called about an opening for their coach. “When Ole Miss first called, I was not that interested. But my wife Betty encouraged me that we needed to at least visit Oxford.” Chancellor was not convinced this was a good move. “I was teaching math classes at Harrison Central, and when Warner told me that I would not have to teach classes, that changed my mind.” He also went from making $12,000 a year to $18,500 with a courtesy car.
Chancellor’s first Ole Miss team (31-9) won the 1979 AIAW state tournament, and by his fourth year in Oxford, he began a streak of 11 straight NCAA tournaments, including four Elite Eights and three Sweet 16 appearances. His best team at Ole Miss (29-3) might have been the 1992 team that finished 11-0 in the SEC and won the school’s only SEC title along with an Elite Eight appearance. “That team played extremely hard and had no egos,” Chancellor said. He was also honored to have his daughter Renee on that team. During his Ole Miss career he took the Lady Rebels to 13 NCAA tournament appearances.
Chancellor resigned from Ole Miss in the spring of 1997 to take a job with the Houston Comets of the WNBA. “I needed a new adventure, and it also rekindled my coaching career,” the four-time SEC Coach of the Year said. Chancellor coached the Comets for 10 years, won the first four league titles, and qualified for the playoffs the first seven years of the WNBA playoffs.
Chancellor’s next stop was LSU. With nine returning seniors, LSU won the SEC title with a 14-0 record, making it to the Final Four semifinals before losing a 47-46 heartbreaker to Tennessee. “I still replay that game in my head. We came within a play of playing for the national championship.” Chancellor would retire from coaching four years later.
“I can say the good Lord has been good to me over the years. I was blessed with great players at every stop. All my teams are my favorite, but the highlight would be being the winning coach of the 2004 Olympic team,” Chancellor said.
Today, he and his wife, Betty, live in the Houston area, and he does a little TV work. Both their daughter, Renee, and son, John, as well as their four grandchildren, are involved in basketball.
