Having traveled much of the globe to plant the seeds of family roots in a small southern town located in southeast Louisiana is a realized dream of a Liberian man who had his sights set on America since his early adolescent days. The youngest of three children, Nathaniel Denu has held the reigns of the Southern University volleyball program for 26 years.

Entering his 27th season as head volleyball coach of the Lady Jaguars, the self-proclaimed disciplinarian has accumulated a career record of 469-412.

If the adage that an athletic team takes on the persona of its head coach holds true to form, then the Lady Jaguars will be a well-balanced, highly educated, and extremely respected group of young ladies, whose abilities and expectations far exceed those attributes observed by the naked eye. With a quiet demeanor and steel wit, Denu has brought stability to a program that has seen the winds of change blow through regularly since its inception in 1973.

Denu, a student of the Liberian school of volleyball, was a member of the Liberian national team, while in high school, that fell one game shy of earning its nation's bid to the 1968 Summer Olympic Games.

While working as a civil engineer instructor, Southern University's women's basketball coach and senior women's administrator Jackie Murphy asked Denu to help with the chores of maintaining a competitive volleyball team. After a brief hiatus from the job in 1980-81, Denu regained control of a program he loved dearly in 1982, and he has never relinquished that control.

In 1986, Denu was a catalyst in getting the conference's volleyball program sanctioned by the NCAA, as he sat as the SWAC's very first chairman for volleyball. He was also instrumental in devising the current east-west divisional play format that is present in the SWAC. By implementing his philosophy and hard work, Denu's dedication to his program has enabled him to win the SWAC volleyball title three-time in his career (1988, 1993, 1998).

Among his other accomplishments, Denu holds memberships with the United States Volleyball Coaches Association, American Volleyball Coaches Association and the Louisiana Volleyball Coaches Association.

Not only a successful mentor in the game of volleyball, Denu also serves as Director of civil engineering and recruiting and instructor on the Southern University campus, having earned a bachelor's degree in that field as a Southern graduate in 1976.

Along with his bachelor's degree in civil engineering, Denu is also the recipient of a Bachelor of Arts degree from Our Lady of Fatma Teacher's College in Cape Paloma, Liberia.

Denu is the proud father of two children, Natessa and Navin.

FULL NAME: NATHANIEL DENU HOMETOWN: LIBERIA, AFRICA

EDUCATION: COLLEGE: BS, ENGINEERING, SOUTHERN 1976

COACH EXPERIENCE: 1982-PRESENT HEAD COACH, SOUTHERN 1978-1979 HEAD COACH, SOUTHERN

PLAYING CAREER: PLAYED ON THE LIBERIAN INTERNATIONAL VOLLEYBALL TEAM IN 1968

COACHING RECORD: CAREER RECORD: 454-382 SWAC CHAMPIONSHIPS: 3 (1988, 1993, 1998) COACH OF THE YEAR AWARDS: 1 (1998)