Nathan Bellman is entering his sixth season as the head coach at Ohio Dominican.  In his five seasons at the helm of the women’s basketball program Bellman has compiled an 84-63 record, including two American Mideast Conference Tournament Championships and back-to-back trips to the NAIA National Tournament.

In its inaugural season at the Division II level, Bellman directed ODU to a 7-19 overall record and 5-14 mark in conference action, including wins over GLIAC tournament teams, Findlay and Tiffin. Bellman’s string of strong perimeter defensive teams continued as the Panthers ranked second in the conference holding opponents to a .277 three-point field goal percentage.

Bellman guided the Panthers to back-to-back AMC Tournament Championships and NAIA National Tournament appearances in 2007-08 and 2008-09 after going 22-10 and 19-12, respectively. ODU went wire-to-wire in the Top 25 rankings in 2007-08, making it as high as No. 8 after starting the season with a school record nine wins. The team finished No. 20 in the final poll, ranking third nationally in three-point field goals and sixth in three-point percentage.

In his first season in 2006-07, Bellman was awarded the AMC South Division Coach of the Year Award after the Panthers went 20-11, finishing second in the AMC and snapping rival Cedarville’s 72-game conference winning streak, 73-68, on Dec. 19. During his tenure, he has coached four 1,000 point scorers and 15 all-conference selections. His teams are 46-19 at home during that span, including a school record 14-1 in 2007-08, while compiling a 34-13 record in the AMC from 2006-09.

Along with the on-court accomplishments, Bellman has coached eight Daktronics-NAIA All-America Scholar Athletes and 12 academic all-conference selections, including nine a year ago. Last year, the Panthers were honored as the No. 13 squad in the NCAA Division II Academic Top 25 rankings and have twice finished in the top ten of the WBCA Academic Honor Roll in team grade point average; finishing No. 7 in 2008-09 and No. 5 in 2009-10.

Prior to joining ODU, Bellman was the women’s assistant coach during the 2005-06 season at the University of the Cumberlands, where he helped lead the Patriots to a 21-9 mark, the Mid-South Conference Championship and an appearance in the NAIA Division I Sweet Sixteen.

Before arriving at UC, Bellman spent two years as the women’s assistant at Indiana Wesleyan University from 2002-04. While at IWU, the Wildcats went 29-8, with two Sweet 16 appearances in the NAIA Division II National Tournament.

Bellman started his coaching career at Mount Vernon Nazarene College as an assistant for the men’s squad from 1999 to 2002, helping the team to a combined 68-34 mark and the 2002 NCCAA National Championship.

An alum of Hamilton Southeastern High School in Fishers, Indiana, Bellman graduated from MVNC in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts in Sports Management. He continued his studies at Ball State University, earning a Master of Arts degree in Physical Education in 2005.

Bellman and his wife Stacey have two children, Trevor and Katherine.