Coach Al Sandifer begins his third season as the Saints Head Coach after serving as the Interim Head Coach for part of the season in 2006-07. In his first year leading the Saints, Sandifer led the Saints to a 10-21 record. In doing so, he increased their win total from the previous year by 150%.
In his second season, Coach Sandifer continued to lead the Saints to a improved record as the team ended the season last year with a 15-16 record, going 6-8 in the WHAC.
Sandifer came to the Saints in 1976 as a freshman basketball recruit and has been a part of Siena Heights Athletics for part of four decades. In 1978, he was named Siena Heights College’s Athlete of the Year. He was elected the Team MVP of the Saints 31 years ago in the 1977-78 season.
In 1991, Sandifer took the Siena Heights Softball team to the NAIA National Tournament and is still the winningest coach in the softball program’s history, with a 271 wins during his ten-year tenure. During his time as the softball coach, Sandifer was named NAIA District 23 Coach of the Year and Regional Coach of the Year. The Saints won three out of the four possible WHAC Championships (conference began in 1992) and Sandifer was named WHAC Coach of the Year three times.
Coach Sandifer also spent three years at Adrian High School where he compiled a 52-18 record as head boy’s basketball coach. He was named Lenawee County Coach of the Year in 1999. Sandifer also served as the Men’s Golf Coach at Siena Heights and can be credited to helping create what has become a very strong men’s golf program at Siena Heights.
Coach Sandifer served as an assistant coach for the Men’s Basketball Program for 20 seasons prior to taking on the head job. He is also currently the business manager for the athletic department. Sandifer runs the highly respected "Camp of Champions" each summer and founded the "Hoopster" program, which brings over 800 youngsters to campus each year. Sandifer and his wife Tami have two children, Christie and Curtis, and currently reside in Adrian.