Starting his fourth overall year on staff at Piedmont College is Mike Floyd who enters his third year as an Assistant Coach with the program’s new Head Coach, Greg Neeley. Coming to Demorest after an impressive Division III playing career of his own and a two-year high school coaching stint in Ohio, Floyd has helped bring a brand of basketball consistent with his own successful collegiate and high school experience to one of the most exciting young programs on campus.
During his third season with the Lions, Floyd was a part of one of the most dramatic turnarounds in program history helping the team to an 8-6 mark in USA South play and a 3rd place finish in the regular season standings just two years after the Lions saw their season cut short in 2012-13. Overall, the Lions posted an even 13-13 record but saw program defining wins coming on their own home court to set the stage for exciting years to come.
| "What they're saying about Coach Floyd..." |
“Mike Floyd is one of the most intelligent and knowledgeable young coaches out there. Those qualities coupled with his work ethic make him a very valuable asset to whatever basketball program he is a part of. Mike is a winner and exactly the kind of coach that every parent wants their son to play for.”
-Thomas Heil, Baldwin Wallace University
Head Men's Basketball Coach |
“St. John's has been to Ohio's Final Four six times - Mike Floyd was on three of those teams. Mike is a winner! He was the quintessential team player, sacrificing scoring to make his team better, possessed quiet intensity - no surprise the commitment he showed to Piedmont College last year to keep things going!”
-Ed Heintschel, St. John's Jesuit High School
Head Coach, Boys' Basketball |
"Mike has all of the qualities to be an outstanding college basketball coach. He has a high basketball IQ, he is very hard working, and he will coach with a strong sense of integrity. I am very proud to have coached Coach Floyd and am confident that he is going to make a positive difference in the Piedmont Basketball program and the lives of its players."
-Kyle Brumett, Wabash College
Head Men's Basketball Coach |
In early December, the Lions held on for a two-point win over Emory University upsetting the nation’s #6 ranked team at the time and posting Piedmont’s first-ever recorded win over a top ten opponent at home in Cave Arena. Almost two months later, it was Trae Gaines’ buzzer beater that sent the Cave Crazy faithful cascading onto the court as his shot from near mid-court knocked off Maryville College at home in dramatic fashion.
Big wins were not the only story for the Lions in 2014-15 as two individuals were honored in the year-end All-Conference listing with Peyton Luken taking 2nd team honors as one of the best three point shooters in the league and Division III (19th in 3-pt. field goal percentage). Floyd also helped mentor Justin Vallejo who earned USA South Rookie of the Year honors helping Piedmont to top 50 national rankings in nearly every rebounding category including the 8th best rebounding margin in the country.
During his second season on staff, Coach Floyd helped Piedmont to a 9-16 overall record including four wins in the USA South and a win in the program’s USA South debut with a 90-75 victory on the road against the Pacers of William Peace University. The Lions also posted the best five-game start in the NCAA Era with a 4-1 record including three straight wins capped off by a last second victory over visiting Berry College in front of the Cave Crazies in Demorest.
A former college point guard himself, Floyd help the Lions post a top four mark in the USA South in assists per game with just under 14 helpers as a team while also using his defensive prowess to help PC place second in steals per game as a team with almost 13 per. Piedmont was the third best scoring team in the league during the 2013-14 season placing in the top five in both field goal percentage and 3-point field goal percentage while also reaching the top six in defensive scoring allowing less than 65 points per game.
Along with the team’s success, several individual Lions were honored for their contributions on and off the court highlighted by Jessie Jenkins’ nomination as a Capital One Academic All-District honoree making him the first Piedmont men’s basketball player in the more than 100-year history of the program to earn such distinction. Jenkins also joined teammate Aaron Thrams as NABC Honors Court award winners while the team was honored with the organization’s Team Academic Excellence Award for carrying a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better.
Prior to his time at Piedmont, Floyd spent the two years prior to coming South at Ottawa Hills High School in Ohio serving as an assistant coach with the school’s successful varsity boys’ basketball program while also heading up the school’s 8th grade squad. During his time with the varsity program rich in history given its 32 conference titles all-time, Floyd helped the team to back-to-back conference championships while also mentoring a 1,000 point career scorer, one of just nine such performers in the program’s last 40 years.
Before making his way into coaching, Floyd spent four years as a collegiate player at Defiance College, a NCAA Division III member located in Ohio. A four-time All-Conference player for the Yellow Jackets, the point guard ran the show at Defiance guiding his squad to a 77-32 overall record during his four years, a run that included a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Tournament Championship in 2010, his final campaign with the club.
During that same season, Floyd also helped his team to a NCAA National Tournament appearance with the Yellow Jackets turning in a 23-6 overall record representing the program’s winningest season in more than 30 years. Floyd played in three HCAC title games during his Defiance career as one of the most dominant point guards in the league leading the conference in assists in each of his four seasons.
Floyd also decorates the Defiance men’s basketball record books as his final two seasons with the school represent two of the program’s top eight single season assist marks. In his senior year, Floyd dished out 135 helpers one year after dropping an outstanding 178 in 2008-09, the fifth best single season total in school history. Both those seasons also rank in the top eight for assists per game during a season in Defiance’s records book while his freshman year mark of 4.58 helpers per also places in the top ten.
For his career with the Yellow Jackets, Floyd placed second all-time behind Ron Schomaeker who played for Defiance in the early 80s. Floyd totaled just over 500 assists for his career with several highlights along the way as his 16 assists in a 93-79 victory over Geneva in 2008 set a new career high and represented a HCAC record for assists in a single game.
Floyd led the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference in assists during each of his four seasons at Defiance gaining regional and national recognition as one of the best point guards around. Ranked 10th nationally during his junior season in assists per game, Floyd played to the home crowd most often raising his assists per game average at home higher than the same ratio away from home in that same record-setting season.
Coming back to finish again in the top 25 nationally in assists per game for his senior year, Floyd was a two-time captain for the Yellow Jackets and is ranked third all-time in assists per game for the program. Floyd also served as a camp coach for Defiance men’s basketball camps in three different summers (2006, 2008, 2012).
Before enrolling at Defiance, Floyd prepped at St. John’s Jesuit High School leaving as one of the school’s most decorated, multi-sport athletes competing in varsity basketball, football, and track. A team captain at one point for each of the three programs, Floyd led his football team to an Ohio State Semi-Finalist finish as well as two such showings for basketball.
Named All-Toledo and All-District Seven in basketball playing under Head Coach Ed Heintschel, Floyd also helped his high school team to the Ohio State Championship Game for basketball earning St. John’s Most Outstanding Athlete award for his efforts. Floyd also served as a coach for St. John’s boys’ basketball camps five straight summers as well from 2003 to 2007.
As a two-time Dean’s List honoree at Defiance, Floyd earned his Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from the Ohio-based institution in May of 2010. Floyd later earned his Master of Business Administration from the graduate school at Piedmont College in 2013.
Having now relocated to Georgia, Floyd assists Head Coach Greg Neeley in all facets of the men’s basketball program at Piedmont.
