IU Columbus announces new coaches for basketball, dance teams

IU Columbus is announcing the coaches for its upcoming men’s and women’s basketball programs as well as the cheer and dance coach.

The three programs will be added to the school’s Crimson Pride athletics offerings in the 2024-25 school year. The school says all three coaches will be relocating to the Columbus area in the coming weeks to begin recruiting for their inaugural seasons.

James Adams will be the men’s basketball coach. He comes from Wisconsin where he coached high school college, and semi-professional teams. Adams was named 2018 Big Eight Conference Coach of the Year. Adams holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Upper Iowa University, and a master’s degree in sports & recreational science from Ohio University.

Dana Dunson will be the women’s basketball coach, coming to Columbus from Louisiana. He has served as head coach for men’s and women’s high school varsity teams, as well as head women’s basketball coach at Centenary College of Louisiana and coached a men’s semi-pro ABA basketball team. He holds a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from Louisiana State University of Shreveport and a master’s of divinity from Missionary Chapel Academy.

Pati Lara is coming from Texas to coach the cheer and dance teems, where she was director, head instructor and choreographer of the Elite Academy of Dance for more than 20 years. She trained from the age of four at the British ballet and graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso.