Donald Casper Zierden, Jr. is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach. From 2007 to 2009, Zierden served as the head coach of the

Minnesota Lynx The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team won the WNBA title in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. Founded pr ...

in the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

(WNBA).

Early life and education

Zierden, a

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

native, graduated from

DeLaSalle High School DeLaSalle High School is a Catholic, college preparatory high school in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is located on Nicollet Island. History DeLaSalle opened in 1900 and has been administered by the De La Salle Brothers (French Christian Brothers ...

in Minneapolis and later from

Mount Senario College Mount Senario College (MSC or Mt. Senario) was a private non-profit college located in Ladysmith, Wisconsin, in the Diocese of Superior. History Early history The College began in 1930, when summer extension courses were conducted in Ladysmith f ...

Ladysmith, Wisconsin Ladysmith is a city and the county seat of Rusk County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,414 at the 2010 census. History The Ojibwe who travelled the Flambeau River called the area that would become Ladysmith ''Gakaabikijiwanan'' ...

in 1981.

Coaching career

He returned to DeLaSalle High in 1984 to become head varsity basketball coach and led DeLaSalle to the Minnesota Class A title in his first season. In two seasons at DeLaSalle, Zierden had a 61–14 record as head coach. In 1986, Zierden moved to the collegiate ranks to be an assistant coach at the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church and the campus architectural style is predominantly Collegiate Gothic. The school traces its origin to ...

under

J. D. Barnett Joseph Donald Barnett (born January 10, 1944) is an American retired college basketball coach. He was a former head basketball coach at several NCAA Division I, Division I institutions, the most high-profile being VCU Rams men's basketball, Virgini ...

. After two seasons at Tulsa, Zierden left coaching to work at a

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

company. Zierden returned to coaching in 1990, as he became an assistant coach for the

La Crosse Catbirds The La Crosse Catbirds was an American basketball team based in La Crosse, Wisconsin and member of the Continental Basketball Association. The Catbirds were the 1990 and 1992 CBA champions. The team moved to La Crosse from Louisville in 1985, an ...

of the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

under Flip Saunders. In four seasons, the duo had a 139–85 record, including the 1992 CBA championship. In the 1994–95 season, Zierden became an assistant coach of the Pittsburgh Piranhas of the CBA, again, alongside Flip Saunders. They lead the team to a 27–29 record and CBA Finals appearance. Zierden got his first NBA job in 1999 as video coordinator for the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

, and he would be promoted to assistant coach the following year and remain for five seasons on the staffs of

Flip Saunders Philip Daniel "Flip" Saunders (February 23, 1955 – October 25, 2015) was an American basketball player and coach. During his career, he coached the La Crosse Catbirds, Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons, and Washington Wizards. High schoo ...

(replaced by interim coach Kevin McHale in early 2005). From 2005 to 2007, Zierden was an assistant coach for the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

. Zierden became the Minnesota Lynx's fifth head coach on December 13, 2006, replacing

Carolyn Jenkins Carolyn Charise Jenkins (born January 29, 1969 in Fresno, California), is the assistant commissioner for operations of the West Coast Conference. Previously, Jenkins served as a women's basketball coach in the WNBA, serving as an assistant coach ...

, who remained on the staff as an assistant. In 2007, Zierden's Lynx began the season 0–7, lost 10 straight in July and failed to get into the playoff race. They finished tied with a league worst 10–24 record. On June 2, 2009, Zierden resigned as head coach of the Lynx, four days before the season began. He accepted an assistant coaching job under

in Washington in 2009.

Quotes

*“With our team, I thought we would shoot the basketball a little better. I thought we would defend a little better at times. Those have been the biggest surprises and disappointments." — Zierden on the 2007 Lyn

*“She has been utterly fantastic. She has taken fewer shots this year and her numbers are up across the board. We told her coming in that we needed her to take fewer shots because we needed more balance to be a successful team, and she's been great about that. Any success this team is going to have down the road, she is going to be a big part of it." — Zierden on

Seimone Augustus Seimone Delicia Augustus (born April 30, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player who is currently an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted first overa ...

br>
*“I miss the charter flights, the huge per diem and the huge salary. That's what I miss (laughs). I don't miss the 82-game schedule, where you are flying all over the place and really missing out on your family." — Zierden on the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

vs. WNBAbr>

References

External links

WNBA Profile page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zierden, Don Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Minnesota Continental Basketball Association coaches Detroit Pistons assistant coaches High school basketball coaches in the United States Minnesota Lynx coaches Minnesota Lynx head coaches Minnesota Timberwolves assistant coaches Mount Senario College alumni Sports coaches from Minneapolis Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball coaches Washington Wizards assistant coaches DeLaSalle High School (Minneapolis) alumni