OKLAHOMA CITY (Jan. 23, 2020) – Oklahoma Christian has removed the "interim" tag from Kendre Talley's title and he will continue as the Eagles' men's basketball coach after this season, OC Athletic Director David Lynn said Thursday.

Talley, a former All-America player at OC, has the Eagles off to a 5-10 start this season. They consistently have been competitive against a rugged schedule that has included three Lone Star Conference teams ranked in the top 10 of NCAA Division II. The Eagles downed No. 13/10-ranked Dallas Baptist (Texas) 61-42 on Jan. 11 and rank 13th in Division II in scoring defense.

"Kendre has proven to be an outstanding leader for our men's basketball team on and off the court," Lynn said. "He works extremely hard and his team this season has displayed the same toughness Kendre was known for as a player. He has great support from the local community and has developed many positive relationships both at and around OC.

"I'm impressed with the coaches he has surrounded himself with and I look forward to his future development as a coach and mentor for our men's basketball program."

Talley has served as OC's interim coach since April and has worked on the OC men's basketball staff on a full-time basis since Aug. 1, 2017, after spending the 2015-16 season as a graduate assistant coach for the Eagles under legendary coach Dan Hays.

Hays now serves as a special assistant to Talley, with former OC players Luis Lopez and Gary Jones also working as assistant coaches on Talley's staff.

"This is a special day for me and my family and I am excited," Talley said. "I love this university community and the support that we receive consistently. OC is truly home for me! I would like to thank David Lynn and our administration for entrusting me with the duty to lead this program. I am also thankful for my staff and players. They have been awesome during this process.

"Being an alumnus of this program and university makes this even more special, because this place means so much to me. It's such a blessing to have my dream job at such an amazing institution. To get to this point, I have put in a lot of time, hard work and passion. I have focused on keeping God as the foundation of my life and doing things the right way."

Talley spent the 2016-17 season as a full-time assistant coach at USAO in Chickasha, during which he helped the Drovers win the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament title and earn a berth in the NAIA Division I tournament.

Talley, from Spencer, played for OC from 2010 to 2014. As a senior, he earned National Christian College Athletic Association All-America second-team honors and first-team All-Heartland Conference laurels after becoming the first player in Heartland history to lead the NCAA Division II league in three major stat categories – scoring (17.5 points per game), assists (5.9 per game) and steals (2.0 per game).

In 2012, Talley earned most valuable player honors after leading OC to an improbable SAC tournament title during the program's final season in the NAIA and he was a key cog in OC's march to the 2013 NCCAA title game. He finished his OC career with 1,333 points, tying him for No. 27 on the Eagles' all-time scoring list.

He played professionally for BBG Herford in Germany for one season before embarking on his coaching career.

"Looking toward the future, I'm excited to build this program," Talley said. "We have been recruiting hard and are in a good spot with some future Eagles. We will continue to recruit players with character, talent and a winning mentality to represent this program."