Southern Illinois head men’s basketball coach Scott Nagy boasts a stellar career, but his faith journey is even more impressive.
“Well, I grew up going to church but spent most of my time not understanding the full picture,” he told Sports Spectrum of his early faith. “I spent most of my life having a good thought process about heaven and hell, and I always wanted to go to heaven. But, it was all about ‘Have I done enough?’ It was all about works, you know? Honestly, I still struggle with it today because of the profession I’m in.”
Nagy’s parents got divorced when he was a freshman in high school. He moved in with his best friend’s family because his dad didn’t live in the same school district and he didn’t want to transfer schools. His mother remarried and moved.
His life began to change when he attended a summer camp in Wisconsin between his junior and senior years in high school. There, he “asked Jesus into my life,” he said.
Throughout college, though, Nagy still didn’t completely grasp the meaning of salvation and struggled to understand that he didn’t need to work for Christ’s love.
“There was still for me the performance issue, you know,” he recalled. “Am I good enough?”
When he went to the University of Illinois as a graduate assistant, Nagy met a man named Bill Rader, who, at the time, worked with Athletes in Action.
“At a greasy diner, we sat there, you know. I was just talking to him about this, you know,” Nagy explained. “I haven’t been good enough. He said, ‘Have you asked Jesus into your life?’ I said, ‘Yeah I have.’ Then he said, ‘Then it’s over. It’s done.’
“That was where the light just came on for me. I finally got it. It wasn’t about me. It was about what He [Jesus] did,” Nagy concluded.
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Now as a coach, Nagy “emphasizes the importance of prioritizing character, discipline and accountability over winning,” per Sports Spectrum.
“With nearly three decades of head coaching experience at Wright State and South Dakota State, Nagy has a career 577-332 (.635) record and ranks No. 18 in wins among active Division I head coaches,” SIU reported.
He took his position as head coach at Southern Illinois earlier this year.
“I’m extremely excited to welcome Coach Nagy to Saluki Nation,” Director of Athletics Tim Leonard said. “His record speaks for itself. He is a winner in every sense of the word and will be a perfect fit for our program, the campus community and the region.”
