The Back-to-Back Potawatomi Fire Basketball National Championship team’s Head Coach Mark Dannhoff was the guest speaker for the Chamber of Commerce meeting Thursday afternoon at the Seminole State’s Haney Center.

Coach Dannhoff spoke on his coaching career, starting with the Enid Outlaws and then getting the call to coach the Potawatomi Fire. He elaborated on his players and the kindness of the fans and the Potawatomi Nation.

Mark Dannhoff was hired as the new head coach for the Fire in the summer of 2022. He led the Potawatomi Fire to the 2023 Basketball League (TBL) Championship in his first season with the club. In his second season, he led the Fire to a perfect regular season and playoffs (28-0) and the Fire became the first-ever backto- back champions in TBL history. He became the first coach in TBL history to earn two Coach of the Year awards, winning in 2023 and again in 2024. In three seasons as a TBL head coach, Dannhoff now has a record of 80-10 (89% winning percentage). The 2023 TBL Championship was Dannhoff’s first full league championship as a head coach.

In his first TBL season, Dannhoff guided the Enid Outlaws to a regular season Central Conference Championship and a first-round bye in the TBL Playoffs with a 20–4 regular season winloss record (83% winning percentage). The Outlaws advanced to the Central Conference Finals only to fall short in the third game of the best-of-three series to the eventual TBL champion, Shreveport. In addition to having a very exciting, fast-paced, and explosive offense, the Outlaws finished first in the conference for the fewest points allowed per game and were among the leaders for the entire TBL for wins and winning percentage.

Prior to joining the professional ranks, Dannhoff had 30-plus years of basketball experience under his belt.

He has been an assistant on eight Division I collegiate coaching staffs, including Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Georgia State, and Tulane. He has coached more than 70 players who have moved on to play at the professional level, including two players in the NBA (Linton Johnson and Sam Dekker) and four in the NBA Developmental G-League (including Ra Shawn Thomas, John Jordan, and Bronson Koenig). In addition, he previously served as a member of the NABC D-I Assistant Coaches Committee representing the Southland Conference.

The Potawatomi Fire basketball season will start at the beginning of 2025. Practices are being held and are open to the public.

There is no set schedule for the practices.