Jim Poteet was born in Odessa, Texas on January 9, 1941. He graduated from Midland High School in 1959 after a stellar career in basketball. The success on the court led him to Pasadena College (now Point Loma Nazarene University) on a basketball scholarship and for a degree in physical education in 1963. Poteet began his coaching career at Northwest Nazarene College after completing a master’s degree in athletic administration at California State University (Los Angeles) in 1965. His success as an assistant coach at NNC and Pasadena College led to his first head-coaching job at Biola College in 1968. At Biola, Jim was introduced to the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) in its first year through founder, Norm Wilhelmi.
Following three successful years at Biola College, Poteet was hired to build the basketball program at Bethany Nazarene College (now Southern Nazarene University). By the third season, 1973-74, BNC was experiencing phenomenal success with a 31-6 record, winning the NCCAA National Championship with a 30-point victory over California Baptist University. In addition, he was NCCAA National Basketball Coach of the Year in both 1974 and 1975. Jim was also the NCCAA regional chair from 1971 to 1979 and shared the mission and vision of the NCCAA with Christian universities throughout the nation.
Poteet coached the Redskins of BNC to their first NAIA District 9 Championship in 1976, and then led BNC to a second NCCAA National Championship in 1977 with a win over Olivet Nazarene University. He won a second NAIA District 9 championship in 1978 and then led BNC to its third NCCAA National Championship Tournament in 1979. The only loss of Poteet’s career in NCCAA National Tournament play came in the semifinals against host Tennessee Temple College by one (1) point, 64-63. The following evening, his BNC team defeated his alma mater, PLNU, in the last game he coached for BNC. Two (2) NCCAA National championships and a 3rd place finish was quite an accomplishment during the decade of the seventies.
Poteet has been active in sport evangelism since 1966. He has played and coached on five of the seven world continents and has consulted with the basketball federations of several nations. Following his coaching stint at BNC, Poteet was hired to coach the Athletes in Action USA basketball team and led them to a 39-6 record in the 1979-80 season. The record included wins over North Carolina State, New Mexico, Florida, Florida State, Rutgers, Connecticut, Penn State, Oregon, Marquette and the USSR Olympic team. The win over the USSR Olympic team was televised throughout Europe and was a highlight of the season since the US had boycotted the 1980 Olympic Games. The win over the USSR was the last by a US amateur team since the US began to use NBA athletes in Olympic competition from then on.
After a term as basketball coach at Seattle Pacific University, Poteet completed a doctoral degree in sport administration at Oklahoma State University in 1999 and has spent the last twenty-plus years working in several venues. He spent three years as a consultant to the president of the NAIA and founded the Champions of Character program. He also founded an after-school program in 2001 for his local church, Bethany First Church of the Nazarene, that serves 250 students each afternoon. In 2009, Poteet was hired to develop a sport management degree program at Southwestern Christian University. The program became the largest major on the campus. Dr. Poteet also assisted SCU in its move to scholarship sports and the addition of many new intercollegiate athletic programs. His expertise led to their move to NCCAA Division I and membership in the NAIA and the Sooner Athletic Conference. The Jim Poteet Conference Center at Southwestern Christian University was dedicated in May 2016 in his honor. Poteet was named to the Pasadena College/Point Loma Nazarene Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2013, he and his wife, Peggy, received the Distinguished Service Award for the Church of the Nazarene, the highest award for a layperson in the denomination. In addition, Poteet was honored in 2014 by his selection to the NAIA Hall of Fame.
Jim has been married to Peggy (Ellis) for sixty-one (61) years. Dr. Peggy Poteet retired in December 2016, from a forty-year career in higher education. Their son Joshua and his wife Kassy are parents of his three grandchildren, Avery (8), Cole (7), and Quinn (3). At the conclusion of the 2016-17 academic year, Jim and Peggy moved to Olathe, Kansas to be near their family there.
Dr. Poteet was hired in July 2017 as the Vice-President of Athletics at Kansas Christian College in Overland Park to grow and develop an intercollegiate athletic program. Poteet is the author of the book, Big Green Machine, published in 2021. It is the intriguing story of the beginning of intercollegiate athletics at Pasadena College in January of 1945. It tells of the “Firehouse Five,” “Gentleman” Jim Bond, and the 1968 NAIA National Tournament trio of Lloyd Higgins, Ben Foster, and Daryl Nicholson. The book concludes with the story of the move to San Diego and the first season of basketball in Golden Gymnasium.
What is the impact you’d like to make on the world?
I have always felt that I should "bloom where I am planted" in my life's work. God has given me many opportunities to impact others and I thank Him for opening doors.
What's something you learned at PLNU that you have carried on into your career?
I learned from Coach Champ Cartwright how to compete in every area of life. He was a great example and I am grateful that I had the opportunity to learn from him.
What have you learned in this current season of your work that will fuel your hope for the future?
Over the last few years, I have had the opportunity to work daily in diverse racial areas. I have learned daily in these situations and thank God for giving me the opportunity to grow in my relationship with others.