University of Central Missouri Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Matt Howdeshell announced that Jennies basketball head coach Dave Slifer has signed a four-year contract extension through the 2027-2028 season.
“Coach Slifer is one of the most successful and respected coaches in college basketball and has been a tremendous ambassador for our university and athletics department for over two decades,” Howdeshell said. “Our investment in Dave and Jennies basketball shows our commitment to supporting a program that can achieve sustained success. I want to thank Dave for his partnership, diligence, adaptability, and thoughtful approach to make Jennies basketball regionally and nationally relevant.”
The new contract is highly competitive in the MIAA and NCAA Division II and provides incentives for MIAA championships, postseason appearances and achievements, coach of the year awards, and academic achievement.
“I’m excited to enter into a new four-year agreement to continue to be the head women’s basketball coach at the University of Central Missouri,” Slifer said. “This will be the first multi-year contract in my 35 years of coaching, and I am thankful to UCM President Dr. Roger Best and Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Dr. Matt Howdeshell for their continued support of the Jennies basketball program.”
Slifer, who enters his 21st season as head coach in 2024-25, has led Jennies basketball to 12 NCAA Division II postseason berths, including an NCAA-II National Championship in 2018 with the Jennies best record in program history, as well as four MIAA Championships and a pair of NCAA-II Central Region Titles.
Among active head coaches, Slifer is the second winningest coach in Division II and ranks in the top-10 among all three divisions with his 805 career victories in 35 years as a head coach.
He is the winningest coach in both Central Missouri and MIAA women’s basketball history and enters 2024-25 with 421 wins in 20 seasons as head coach of the Jennies.
At UCM, Slifer has coached seven WBCA All-Americans, two College Sports Communicators Academic All-Americans, as well as numerous all-region players, three MIAA Players of the Year, two Defensive Players of the Year and Freshmen of the Year, and a Presidential Scholar. He has also coached 14 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District selections and numerous MIAA Academic Honor Roll honorees and earned MIAA Coach of the Year accolades twice.
Slifer led the Jennies to two different, four consecutive 20+ win seasons from 2012-2015 and again from 2017-21.
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