Dan Ploog

Dan Ploog in his 14th season as an assistant coach on TJ Hardeman's staff at Azusa Pacific, and he has been a vital part of the Cougars' national success in that time. During his tenure, Azusa Pacific has advanced to the NCAA/NAIA Tournaments 12 years, winning the NAIA title (2011), finishing as the NAIA runner-up (2010), and advancing to the NCAA Elite Eight (2019). Also, the Cougars were twice the No. 1 seed in the NCAA West Region Tournament (2016, 2018).

Ploog played four seasons at Biola University, where he helped lead the Eagles to four straight NAIA Tournaments for the first time in program history. A 3-year starter who carved a reputation as a hard-nosed rebounder and one of the toughest defenders in the Golden State Athletic Conference, Ploog led Biola to a 4-year record of 115-28, including a 46-14 clip in conference play (3-6 though against APU). All four of Ploog's Biola teams won opening-round national tournament games, posting a 4-year NAIA Tournament record of 7-4, and he was a member of the 2000 squad that remains the last Eagle team to reach the Final Four. Over his final 3 campaigns, he averaged 5.3 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. He eventually set the Biola record for games played with 136 (since broken). His best individual performance was a 20-point effort during his senior year to lead Biola to a key 78-72 conference win at Christian Heritage.

Ploog prepped at La Habra (Calif.) High from where he graduated in 1995. He played two years of varsity basketball for the Highlanders, but he was better known for his prowess in water polo where he was a prep All-American and played with the junior national team. Upon his high school graduation though, he chose to play basketball and conclude his water polo career.

Ploog graduated from Biola in 2000 with a bachelor's degree in sports physiology. He and his wife Heidi, a former hoops standout at Biola and TJ's daughter, have been married 20 years and live in Fullerton with their 4 sons Vander (14), Hudson (12), Logan (10), Lincoln (8). Dan, who plays the piano, guitar, drums and harmonica, serves as the music pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Whittier. Ploog works in the medical field with sales and staffing.