MAYFIELD, Ky. - Tim Stonecipher of Paducah has been appointed head women's basketball coach at Mid-Continent University in Mayfield.

Stonecipher - a graduate of Union University in Jackson, Tenn., and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville- is co-owner of the Paducah Regional Sports Plex in Paducah. His appointment was announced by MCU President Robert Imhoff.

"We are excited to have Tim join our sports staff," Imhoff said. "His background as a pastor and in sports is impressive. Most important is that his passion for winning people to Christ fits perfectly with our mission at Mid-Continent."

Brittany Nicley, the assistant athletic director who reviewed applications and recommended Stoneciper, agreed he is a perfect fit for Mid-Continent. "Tim comes to Mid-Continent with excitement, wisdom, stability, anda passion to merge ministry and basketball," she said. "We are confident in Tim's ability to make the women's basketball team a very successful program for years to come."

Mid-Continent - a member of the TranSouth Athletic Conference, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) - is a Southern Baptist College founded in 1949. It has approximately 300 traditional students on its Mayfield campus and more than 2,000 adult students who pursue degrees in more than 25 communities throughout Kentucky and southern Illinois.

Stonecipher brings a variety of experience to the position. While his coaching experience is limited, he has spent the last four years working at the Sports Plex teaching the game of basketball in a highly competitive environment to students ranging in age from second grade to high school.

Stonecipher is a native of western Kentucky. He graduated from Lone Oak High School in 1989 where he was a four-sport letterman in basketball, soccer, golf and baseball. He received scholarship offers from Georgetown College in Kentucky and Union University to play basketball and soccer. However, he chose to pursue sports ministry at Union where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1993. In 1997, he earned a Masters in Divinity degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

"He has a tremendous number of connections within the community, a deep love for Christ, and a passion for the game of basketball," Athletic Director Larry Lampkins said. "We are confident that this will take the program to the next level."

For 22 years, he served as a pastor, beginning as an associate pastor at Pleasant Plains Baptist Church in Jackson, Tenn. From there, Stonecipher took the lead pastorate at English Baptist Church in Breckenridge County, Ky., before returning home to Paducah where he pastured both West End Baptist Church and Grace Bible Church.

"This job is an answer to prayer," Stonecipher said. "I have wanted to get my foot in the door here at MCU since 1989. Here, I am able to combine my passion for sports and my love for Christ to see others use sports, and not be used by sports as happens to so many."

Stonecipher and his wife Jeri Ann reside in Lone Oak, and have two sons - Caleb, 16, Nathan, 13.