Kim Elders, a Grand Rapids native, when inducted in 2022 had been the head coach at Cornerstone University for 29 years and for just over 1,000 games with a 732-270 (.731) record, three NAIA DII National Championships (1999, 2011, 2015), 11 regular season conference (WHAC) championships, 10 conference tournament championships and a record 40 NAIA national tournament wins. In 1989-90 his team went undefeated in WHAC games, the only team to accomplish that feat in conference history.
Three times he has been named the NAIA/NABC National Coach of the Year, in 1996 he was the NCCAA Coach of the Year and eight times the WHAC Coach of the Year. In 2019 he was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame.
He was hired as an assistant coach in 1991 by then head coach Tom Martin and became the head coach in 1993 when the school was still known as Grand Rapids Baptist College.
He grew up in Hudsonville and is a graduate of Grand Valley State University (1977 BA elementary education) and Western Michigan University (1993 MA athletic administration). He taught and coached for 10 years in Grandville and at Northpointe and Freedom Baptist schools before moving to the college ranks as a baseball and basketball coach.
He has four stepchildren, Nic, Zac, Cam and Missy with his wife Holly.
“I believe God called me here, it’s been a terrific ride and I want him to get all the glory,” Elders says. “He allowed me to be in one place for a long time working with young, Christian men, mentoring them and he has blessed our program beyond my greatest expectations.
“As a coach, you just want to work in (your player’s lives). It’s the greatest joy for me to build into their lives and then to see them go out and impact their world for Christ.”