Bob Battisi is returning for his second-straight year as an Assistant Coach for the MACU men's basketball program and his fourth year overall as the tenured coach brings 41 years of collegiate coaching experience to the Evangels.
Battisti made his return to the program for the 2023-24 season and with the veteran coach on the staff, the MACU men's basketball team put together a resurgent year, finishing second in the Sooner Athletic Conference with a 17-5 league record and finished 24-9 overall to qualify for its seventh appearance in the NAIA National Tournament in the last 10 years.
The long time coach made his return to the bench after a year away from the game after spending the 2021-22 season as a Volunteer Assistant Coach with NCAA Division II Central Oklahoma under Bob Hoffman. During that campaign, The Broncos ended the year with a 24-7 overall record, winning the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) with an 18-4 mark as well as making an appearance in the NCCAA Division II National Tournament.
Prior to his year at UCO, Battisti was a part of Coach Gambin's staff at MACU for two seasons, helping lead the Evangels to one of the winningest teams in program history in 2019-20 after going 30-2 overall, won their second SAC Championship with a 19-1 league mark and set multiple NAIA Era offensive and defensive records. On-top of earning the program's first ever No. 1 seed for the NAIA Tournament in 2020, Battisti also played a part in MACU's appearance in 2021 as the Evangels navigated a season heavily impacted by COVID-19 with a 12-5 overall record while advancing to the second round of the NAIA tourney.
Before his two-year stint at MACU and retiring from the game for a two-year span, Battisti previously served as the Head Coach of the NCAA Division II men's basketball program at Southwestern Oklahoma State for four seasons, where he amassed a 56-57 (.496) overall record and a 38-45 mark in Great American Conference play. Battisti's best season with the Bulldogs came during his first, compiling a 17-10 record and finished second in GAC play with a 14-6 league mark while placing as the runner-up in the conference tournament in 2013-14.
Prior to SWOSU, Battisti served for two years as the Assistant Coach of Oklahoma Christian where he led the Eagles to a 40-25 overall record. In 2011-12, he helped mentor OC to its first ever Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament win before finishing the year with a 20-13 record. The following year, the Eagles went 19-12 and finished as the NCCAA National Championship Runner-Up after dropping a heartbreaking 90-87 overtime matchup against Shorter (Ga.) in the title game.
Before heading to Edmond, Battisti was coming off a four-year stint as the Athletic Director at Northwestern Oklahoma State after serving as the program's men's basketball Head Coach for 25 years from 1986-2007. As an AD, Battisti helped lead the Rangers' athletic programs into the transition to the NCAA level after a longtime stint at the NAIA level. During his 25-year coaching career with the NWOSU men's basketball program, Battisti accumulated a 374-265 (.585) overall record, which included leading the Rangers to five NAIA Tournament appearances and six conference championship wins. Battisti's best season came in 1993-94, leading the Rangers to a 29-2 overall record and the No. 2 overall seed in the NAIA Tournament. In his last season at the helm, Battisti guided NWOSU to its deepest run ever in the NAIA Tournament, notching a pair of victories before being knocked out in the quarterfinal round.
Battisti found his way at NWOSU after a two-year stint as an Assistant Coach under coaching legend Flip Saunders at the University of Minnesota. Previously, Battisti was the Head Coach at Lakewood Community College, where he posted a 35-31 record in his three seasons with the program in his first head coaching gig.
Battisti got his start coaching college basketball at Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, Minnesota., where he served three years.
A native of Warren, Michigan, Battisti received his Bachelor’s Degree in Health and Physical Education from Minnesota State University-Mankato in 1981 before earning his Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Minnesota in 1985. Battisti lives in Moore, Oklahoma with his wife, Shelly. Battisti's son Cooper played for him at Southwestern Oklahoma for two years before finishing his four-year playing career in 2018-19.
