Daniel Wheeler enters his fifth season as the head men's basketball coach at East Central University.
Since taking the helm in April 2022, Wheeler has continued to lead the Tigers in Great American Conference competition, guiding the program through four seasons and two appearances in the GAC Championship Tournament.
During the 2025-26 season, Wheeler led East Central to a 15-14 overall record and a 10-12 mark in Great American Conference play. The Tigers returned to the GAC Championship Tournament as the No. 5 seed in Fort Smith, Arkansas, where they faced No. 4 seed Southern Nazarene in the quarterfinals, falling by a final score of 89-65. East Central was represented by an All-GAC First-Team selection, while Rustin Coffey earned Honorable Mention All-GAC recognition. Coffey also received GAC Elite Scholar Athlete honors for his academic performance.
In 2024-25, the Tigers finished with a 10-18 overall record and a 7-15 mark in conference play, narrowly missing the GAC Championship Tournament. East Central had two players earn Honorable Mention All-GAC recognition, while three student-athletes were named to the GAC Academic Honor Roll.
During the 2023-24 season, Wheeler guided the Tigers to a 13-15 overall record and a 9-13 mark in Great American Conference play. Senior Keyon Thomas earned his second consecutive Honorable Mention All-GAC selection after finishing the season with 398 points and an average of 14.2 points per game.
In his first season at the helm in 2022-23, Wheeler led East Central to an 18-11 overall record and a 13-9 mark in GAC play. The Tigers entered the GAC Championship Tournament as the No. 4 seed, and three players earned Honorable Mention All-GAC recognition, including Keyon Thomas, Luke Harper and Quinton Johnson. Romello Wilbert and Bryce Woolridge also earned GAC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete honors.
East Central announced Wheeler's hiring as the 13th head men's basketball coach in program history in April 2022.
Wheeler joined the Tigers after spending seven seasons on the coaching staff at the University of Central Oklahoma. He began his tenure with the Bronchos in 2015 as a graduate assistant, was promoted to assistant coach in 2018 and served as the program's lead assistant during his final two seasons.
During his seven seasons at UCO, Wheeler helped guide the Bronchos to 112 victories, including three 20-win seasons. The team made three consecutive appearances in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Division II Central Regional during the 2021-22 season.
A native of Burden, Kansas, Wheeler is married to his wife, Paige, and together they have one son.
