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

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach, currently head men's basketball coach at the

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (UND) is a Public university, public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States. It was established by the Dakota Territory, Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishm ...

Early life

Sather, from

Princeton, Minnesota Princeton is a city in Mille Lacs and Sherburne counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota, at the junction of the Rum River and its West Branch. It is north of Minneapolis and east of St. Cloud, at the intersection of Highways 169 and 95. ...

, played college basketball for Northern State in

Aberdeen, South Dakota Aberdeen () is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, South Dakota, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 28,495. making it the third-most populous city in the state. Aberdeen is home of Northern State University. ...

from 1990 to 1994.

Coaching career

Early coaching career

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 (WSC) 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 Nor ...

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, Creighton Bluejays men's basketball team since 2010. Previously, McDermott served as the head coach a ...

, 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’s staff at

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Black Hills State

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, United States. Close to 4,000 students attend classes at its campus in Spearfish, with a satellite campus in Rapid City which is shared with South Dakota Sta ...

Spearfish, South Dakota Spearfish (Lakota: ''Hočhápȟe'') is a city in Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 12,193 at the 2020 census, and was estimated to be 13,282 in 2023, making it the 11th most populous city in South Dakota. Spearfi ...

. 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.

Northern State

Sather was then hired to lead the program at his alma mater, Northern State, replacing Don Meyer. 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 Upper Midwest of the United States. Nine of ...

(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. That team finished 36-4 and set a school record for single season wins and consecutive wins with 18.

North Dakota

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 Flickertails and the Fighting Sioux) are the athletic teams that represent the University of North Dakota (UND), located in the city of Grand Forks, North Dakota. The Fighting Hawks compete a ...

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 Minnesota in the east, to the Dakotas, Nebraska and Colorado to the West, and Mis ...

. 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, United States. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural Colle ...

. On March 14, 2023, it was announced that Sather was hired to a two year extension through the 2025–26 season.

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

Coaching tree

Assistant coaches under Sather who became NCAA or NBA head coaches * Sundance Wicks – Missouri Western (2018–2020), Green Bay (2023–2024),

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

(2024–present) *

Steve Smiley Stephen Christopher Smiley (born April 1, 1981) is an Americans, American basketball coach (basketball), coach who is the current head coach of the Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball team. Playing career Smiley was a two-time all-state sel ...

–

Northern Colorado Northern Colorado is the name for a region in the state of Colorado and a proposed state in the northeastern portion of Colorado. Region Northern Colorado is a region in the northern portion of Colorado. It borders northwestern Colorado, nort ...

(2020–present) * Justin Wieck – Minnesota Duluth (2018–present) * Randall Herbst – Minot State (2025–present)

Personal life

He has two children, Sam and Becca, and a wife named Kelsie.

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 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 Sports coaches from Minnesota Wayne State College alumni Wayne State Wildcats men's basketball coaches Northern State University alumni 20th-century American sportsmen