Tunis Prins

Teunis Wayenberg Prins was an American pastor, college football coach, athletics administrator, and educator.

Biography

Prins was born on August 7, 1895, in Sioux Center, Iowa. Prins enrolled at Hope College in 1913 and was a guard and forward on the school's basketball team. In 1915, he was voted as team captain. He and his brother, Peter, enlisted in the United States Armed Forces during World War I. The brothers returned to Hope in 1919 and Tunis was a member of the state championship basketball team in 1920. Following his graduation he enrolled at New Brunswick Theological Seminary.
While attended New Brunswick, Prins was named as the pastor for the Whitehouse Reformed Church in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey. He resigned in 1926 to become the pastor at a church in Herkimer, New York. Throughout that time, Prins had attended the University of Michigan and Princeton University.
In 1938, Prins was named as the director of intramural athletics alongside become a professor of physical education for Central College. In 1943, after athletic director and head football coach Richard Tysseling was commissioned into the United States Navy, Prins took over the roles. In two seasons he led the team to an overall record of 6–5 before resigning after the 1944 season. In 1944, he hired future Central head coach Eldon Tharp as an assistant coach.
Prins remained with Central after Tysseling returned, reverting back to director of intramural athletics. He remained with the school until his death on July 21, 1949. Leading up to his death, Prins had received surgery at the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics.