Stu Starner (born April 8, 1943) is an American former

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. He was an

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

head men's coach for eleven seasons for

Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 6 ...

and the

University of Texas at San Antonio The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is a public research university in San Antonio, Texas. With over 34,000 students across its four campuses spanning 758 acres, UTSA is the largest university in San Antonio and the eighth-largest by ...

(UTSA). Starner, a native of

Hoffman, Minnesota Hoffman is a city in Grant County, Minnesota, United States, along the Chippewa River. The population was 681 at the 2010 census. History Hoffman was platted in 1887, and named for Robert C. Hoffman, a railroad official. A post office has been ...

, played

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 ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

at the

University of Minnesota Morris The University of Minnesota Morris (UMN Morris) is a public liberal arts college in Morris, Minnesota. It is part of the University of Minnesota system and was founded in 1960 as a public, co-educational, residential liberal arts college offering ...

, graduating in 1965. After a successful high school coaching career in Wabasso and

Richfield, Minnesota Richfield is a suburban city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States near the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Minnesota River at Fort Snelling. An inner ring suburb of Minneapolis, it is bordered by Minneapolis to the north, Minn ...

, Starner moved to the college ranks in 1978 as a graduate assistant at

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. After assistant roles at

Montana State Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 68 fields, and doctoral degrees in 35 fiel ...

and a second stint at Minnesota, Starner was hired as the head coach for Montana State in

Bozeman, Montana Bozeman is a city and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States. Located in southwest Montana, the 2020 census put Bozeman's population at 53,293, making it the fourth-largest city in Montana. It is the principal city of th ...

in 1983. In 1986, Starner's Bobcats won the 1986 Big Sky Conference tournament as the 6 seed, gaining the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the only team in the field with a losing overall record. The following season, the Bobcats won the

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference (BSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the eigh ...

regular season title behind Conference Player of the Year Tom Domako. In 1990, Starner took the unusual step of requesting a one-year sabbatical from his head coaching position at Montana State. His request was granted and assistant

Mick Durham Mick Durham is an American college basketball coach, currently men's head coach for Montana State University Billings. He had previously been head coach at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where he led the program for 7 seasons. Durham was bor ...

was named interim head coach. However, Starner surprised the school two months later by accepting the head coaching position at UTSA. Starner spent five seasons coaching the Roadrunners, Starner resigned in 1995 with an 84–58 record at the school. His teams won conference regular season championships in 1991 and 1992.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Coaching record @ sports-reference.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Starner, Stu 1943 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Minnesota Basketball players from Minnesota College men's basketball head coaches in the United States High school basketball coaches in Minnesota Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball coaches Minnesota Morris Cougars football players Minnesota Morris Cougars men's basketball players Montana State Bobcats men's basketball coaches People from Grant County, Minnesota UTSA Roadrunners men's basketball coaches