Paul Sather (born August 28, 1971) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach, currently head men's basketball coach at the

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (also known as UND or North Dakota) is a public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of ...

. Sather, from

Princeton, Minnesota Princeton is a city in Mille Lacs County, Minnesota, Mille Lacs and Sherburne County, Minnesota, Sherburne counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota, at the junction of the Rum River and its West branch. It is 50 miles north of Minneapolis and 30 m ...

, played college basketball for Northern State in

Aberdeen, South Dakota Aberdeen (Lakota language, Lakota: ''Ablíla'') is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, South Dakota, Brown County, South Dakota, United States, located approximately northeast of Pierre, South Dakota, Pierre. The city population was 2 ...

from 1990 to 1994. Following his college career, he entered coaching, first as an assistant coach at Sidney High School in Nebraska, then as a graduate assistant at

Wayne State College Wayne State College is a public college in Wayne, Nebraska. It is part of the Nebraska State College System and enrolls 4,202 students. The college opened as a public normal school in 1910 after the state purchased the private Nebraska Normal Co ...

under

Greg McDermott Greg McDermott (born November 25, 1964) is an American basketball coach who has been the head coach of the Creighton Bluejays men's basketball team since 2010. Previously, McDermott served as the head coach at Wayne State College, North Dakota ...

, where he also obtained a master's degree in sports administration. In 1998, Sather returned to Northern State as an assistant coach, where he served for six years. For the 2004–05 season, Sather joined

Ricardo Patton Ricardo Maurice Patton (born October 23, 1958) is an American college basketball coach who most recently served as senior advisor to the head men's basketball coach at Vanderbilt University. On March 9, 2011, NIU announced that Patton would not re ...

’s staff at

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. In 2005, Sather was named head coach of

Black Hills State University Black Hills State University (BHSU) is a public university in Spearfish, South Dakota. Close to 4,000 students attend classes at its campus in Spearfish, at sites in Rapid City and Pierre, and through distance offerings. Enrollment comes from ...

Spearfish, South Dakota Spearfish (Lakota: ''Hočhápȟe'') is a city in Lawrence County, South Dakota. The population was 12,193 at the time of the 2020 census. History Before the Black Hills Gold Rush of 1876, the area was used by Native Americans (primarily bands ...

. In his five seasons at Black Hills State, he led the Yellow Jackets to a 94–62 record. His 2008–09 team went 30–5, setting a school season record for wins. In the 2008–09 season, he also won the DAC Coach of the Year. Sather was then hired to lead the program at his alma mater, Northern State, replacing

Don Meyer Donald Wayne Meyer (December 16, 1944 – May 18, 2014) was an American college basketball coach who completed his career in 2010 as head coach of the men's team at Northern State University. He was once head coach at Hamline University and Lipsco ...

. His teams went 188–89 in nine seasons. During this time, Sather won back to back

Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the western Midwestern United States. Nine of its ...

(NSIC) coach of the year awards and the Wolves played in the championship game of the 2018 NCAA Division II tournament, narrowly losing to

Ferris State Ferris State University (FSU or Ferris) is a public university with its main campus in Big Rapids, Michigan. It was founded in 1884 and became a public institution in 1950. Ferris is the ninth-largest institutions of higher education by enroll ...

. That team finished 36-4 and set a school record for single season wins and consecutive wins with 18. On May 30, 2019, Sather was announced as the new head coach for the

North Dakota Fighting Hawks The North Dakota Fighting Hawks (formerly known as the Fighting Sioux) are the athletic teams that represent the University of North Dakota (UND), located in the city of Grand Forks, North Dakota. Originally in the Division II North Central Con ...

of the

Summit League The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States from Illinois on the East of the Mississippi River to the Dakotas and Nebraska on the W ...

. He picked Jamie Stevens and Zach Horstman, who were assistants under him at Northern State, as assistant coaches. During his first season, Sather led the Fighting Hawks to the Summit League tournament championship game for the first time in school history, subsequently losing to

North Dakota State North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as th ...

. On March 14, 2023, it was announced that Sather was hired to a two year extension through the 2025-26 season. He has two children, Sam and Becca, and a wife named Kelsie.

Head coaching record

Career stats

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1990–91 , style="text-align:left;", Northern State , 14 , , 0 , , , , .86 , , , , 1.00 , , 0.60 , , 0.07 , , 0.14 , , 0.14 , , 0.90 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1991–92 , style="text-align:left;", Northern State , 6 , , 0 , , , , .33 , , , , .40 , , 0.66 , , 0.00 , , 0.16 , , 0.33 , , 1.33 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1992–93 , style="text-align:left;", Northern State , 36 , , 18 , , , , .58 , , 1.00 , , .57 , , 3.88 , , 0.94 , , 0.97 , , 0.61 , , 7.16 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1993–94 , style="text-align:left;", Northern State , 34 , , 34 , , , , .59 , , , , .61 , , 5.58 , , 1.44 , , 0.97 , , 0.55 , , 9.97

All-Conference players

NSIC

* Collin Pryor (2011 and 2013) * Dustin Tetzlaff (2012 and 2013) * Seth Bachand (2015) * Tydan Storrusten (2015) * Skye Warwick (2016) * Darin Peterka (2016 and 2018) * Logan Doyle (2017 and 2018) * Ian Smith (2017-19) * Mack Arvidson (2017) * DJ Pollard (2018) * Justin Decker (2019) * Gabe King (2019)

Summit League The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States from Illinois on the East of the Mississippi River to the Dakotas and Nebraska on the W ...

First Team All-Summit League

Marlon Stewart Marlon Stewart (born February 18, 1997) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Caballeros de Culiacán of the Circuito de Baloncesto de la Costa del Pacífico. He played college basketball for the North Dakota Fighti ...

(2020)

Second Team All-Summit League

* Filip Rebraca (2020 and 2021)

Freshman of the Year

* Tyree Ihenacho (2021) * Paul Bruns (2022)

Sixth Man of the Year

* Matt Norman (2023)

References

External links

North Dakota profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sather, Paul 1971 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Minnesota Basketball players from Minneapolis Black Hills State Yellow Jackets men's basketball coaches College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball coaches High school basketball coaches in Nebraska North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's basketball coaches Northern State Wolves men's basketball coaches Northern State Wolves men's basketball players People from Princeton, Minnesota Sportspeople from Minnesota Wayne State College alumni Wayne State Wildcats men's basketball coaches