OKLAHOMA CITY (Jan. 29, 2019) – Barry Wheeler, the women's volleyball coach at Crowley's Ridge (Ark.), was named last week as OC's new coach, charged with reviving a program that was dropped in 1983.

Wheeler helped build successful programs at both Crowley's Ridge and Rochester (Mich.) – formerly known as Michigan Christian – which both are sister church of Christ institutions to OC. He spent 12 seasons at Rochester, guiding that program to a pair of national titles in what now is known as the United States Collegiate Athletic Association.

He then was a successful prep coach for 14 seasons in Missouri and Arkansas, winning a Missouri Class 2 state title in 2007 at Stockton High School, before spending the last three seasons at Crowley's Ridge. At OC, he'll be building a program that will resume competition with the 2020 season, by which time OC will be a member of the Lone Star Conference.

Wheeler's first official day at OC will be Wednesday. Here is an interview with him conducted shortly after his appointment:

How did you get the job at Rochester?
"They had had a program for three years. Being an alum from there, my interview was, 'When can you start?' That was literally my interview. I came up there. I had some volleyball background – at Harding, I was a student assistant and then helped out there in Alabama for three years at a small Christian school in Mobile. Then my first head-coaching job was at Michigan Christian College, at 26. It's not often that you're 26 and you're a head coach, but that opportunity came to me."

What did you learn at Rochester that you can apply at OC?
"At Rochester, it was a baptism by fire. I had spent three years at a Christian school in Alabama as an assistant coach. I was involved in coaching but wasn't the head coach. Then I got hired on at MCC and they said, 'Here's your office" and go! I had to learn everything right there on the fly, because it was just like, "Here you go!" I had to really just settle in and do stuff. I really think it helped me to learn to build programs quickly, because that's what I had to do when I was there. I had to figure it out on my own. It took a little bit to figure out how to get the name out there and how to recruit, but once I started doing a better job of recruiting, we were able to start competing right off the bat. That was kind of fun."

You had a good thing going at Rochester. Why did you move into the high school ranks for awhile?
"At Rochester, I got to where I was having to do a lot of stuff – coaching three sports, teaching full-time – and I had three kids. I needed to be able to start backing off on some of the things that I was doing so that I'd have more family time. It was going to be hard to do with them, so if they couldn't change what I was doing, I would have to change what I was doing. Without even having a job, we just came down to Missouri. After about six months, I was able to find a teaching and coaching gig in Stockton, Mo., and started there. Right off the bat, it was pretty competitive. At the end of my sixth year, we won a state title, so that was a pretty cool deal. We were competitive the entire six years we were there. We happened to win the state title in '07, but that was also the year my daughter was in her (fatal) accident about 21 days after we won the state title. She was only a junior. We could have stayed there in Stockton but decided it may be too challenging to do that, so we decided to leave there and went to Hollister and started a program down there, too. Everywhere I've been, except for one, it was taking over from scratch and building."

Why come to OC? It sounds like you were building something special at Crowley's Ridge.
"We were. This was the most successful year they've ever had in the history of Crowley's Ridge College. But one son's family is in Texas and the other son's family is in Arkansas and Oklahoma Christian is right in the middle. I'll be a little closer to my grandbabies, which is what we've been looking to do. I've been looking to move that way for years, but nothing ever came about. When I heard through my niece, who is an OC grad, that they were starting volleyball up again, I thought I had to look at it. It all went from there. About five or six years ago, I took a trip out there and I talked with (former athletic director) Curtis Janz. I brought a notebook and everything and said, 'Hey, I'm just hearing talk that you're looking to start volleyball here. I know you're not going to do it any time real quick but here you go – here's my information.' So I had an interest in OC volleyball several years ago."

It sounds like you're really excited about this challenge.
"Oh, yeah! Most of my career, I've just built programs. That's why my record is like it is. You go there and build a program and get it going. This is the first time you go to a program and you don't even have holes in the floor. You're literally building from ground zero, from the ground up. That's pretty exciting, to know that every decision that we make here is going to affect the future of this program. We have to be sure we are smart in what we do with the equipment and everything that we do to and go from there. I've talked to some of my colleagues and they are going, 'No way you're starting a program from ground zero. That's pretty cool.' I think so too."

How do you build a program?
"The same as we did here at CRC. CRC is a small school in the NAIA. There are people in Paragould who don't even know where CRC is at. It's just a matter of getting out there and doing stuff on social media, getting out and going to schools and talking to coaches and getting involved in clubs, and then eventually they'll see there is a school … and they do compete pretty well and you start getting in some kids who are pretty good. The same kind of thing can work at OC. You've just got to get out there and hit the road running. My first weekend there, I plan on being in Houston out recruiting and telling people we're starting a program here at Oklahoma Christian. You've just got to get out there and put a face to a place and get our name out there and start collecting information and meet a bunch of people. It's going to be a process, but there are so many talented kids in Oklahoma and Texas that are just champing at the bit to be able to play volleyball somewhere. Given the right opportunities, I can bring in some good kids pretty quick, I believe."

You are hitting the ground running recruiting.
"That's what I've been hired for, to get out there and start recruiting. We'll do that. I've already looked at calendars and I've got almost every weekend full of going to places, a lot in Texas and Oklahoma and some in Kansas. Kansas City has got a big (event) in February that I'm going to – just getting out and around. Going to national qualifiers, things like that. Hitting all the clubs in the area, making contacts and visiting practices and putting a name to the program. This is nothing but PR for about six or seven months. But that's OK. That's what I've done and I like doing it."

How do you educate the OC community about volleyball?
"I imagine we're going to have some times when either, in chapel or something, when we'll say, 'This is how volleyball works. This is when you can cheer and you can't cheer. This is what you say and don't say.' I imagine we're going to have Volleyball 101 sometime."

How will having a full year to build your program help?
"This fall is going to be interesting, because we're going to spend four or five months practicing – just practicing, five days a week. That's going to be a lot different, because normally you practice two or three times a week and you're playing. It will be interesting to just practice. We'll really be able to really pick up some skills and we can really focus and keep going, because that's all we're going to do is practice. It's going to be really beneficial."

You seem to enjoy working at faith-based schools.
"I had the opportunity at CRC, the same as OC, to be back in the Christian college atmosphere. That was where I feel like I progressed the most in my Christianity. When you're (working) in public schools, you really feel limited about what you can and can't say. You're walking a tightrope. I found it very difficult to share my faith in those high school settings. But at CRC and OC, I feel very comfortable doing that. I feel like that's my niche. It's where I'm supposed to be, and minister in those places, as opposed to the high schools where we were."

What style of volleyball should we expect?
"I like kids who are athletic, who can do a lot of things. It should be fairly fast-paced. You should see kids who are hitting the floor, diving all over the place and working at 100 percent all the time. That's the way I run my programs. We just try to pursue the ball regardless. We probably won't always be the biggest teams but we should be pretty athletic. That's who I try to recruit. If they happen to be 6-foot-6, so be it."

How soon do you think OC can compete in the Lone Star Conference?
"I'm there to learn and bring kids in who can compete. This is an opportunity that's going to be really cool. We can bring some kids in and … hopefully within five years, we're competing in the middle of the pack (in the Lone Star Conference) or better. It's going to be awhile. It may not be me who takes us to the next level. It will probably be somebody else. It's going to take awhile to do. But if we bring the right kids in, we could compete pretty quick. I feel confident that we can do it. I know we have to bring in the right kids to do it, but I just think this is an opportunity that some kids are going to be champing at the bit to be a part of a new program and get it going, because no matter what, we're making history. It will be an historic season in 2020 – that's for sure."