Paul Sather | |
Current Title: | Head coach |
Current Team: | North Dakota |
Current Conference: | Summit League |
Birth Date: | 28 August 1971 |
Birth Place: | Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
Player Years1: | 1990–1994 |
Player Team1: | Northern State |
Coach Years1: | 1996–1997 |
Coach Team1: | Sidney HS (assistant) |
Coach Years2: | 1997–1998 |
Coach Team2: | Wayne State (NE) (GA) |
Coach Years3: | 1998–2004 |
Coach Team3: | Northern State (assistant) |
Coach Years4: | 2004–2005 |
Coach Team4: | Colorado (assistant) |
Coach Years5: | 2005–2010 |
Coach Team5: | Black Hills State |
Coach Years6: | 2010–2019 |
Coach Team6: | Northern State |
Coach Years7: | 2019–present |
Coach Team7: | North Dakota |
Tournament Record: | 3–2 (NAIA) 5–3 (NCAA Division II) |
Championships: | 2 NSIC North Division (2018, 2019) 2 NSIC regular season (2018, 2019) 2 NSIC tournament (2018, 2019) 2 DAC (2009, 2010) |
Awards: | 2× NSIC Coach of the Year (2018, 2019) NABC Central Region Coach of the Year (2018) DAC Coach of the Year (2009) |
Paul Sather (born August 28, 1971) is an American college basketball coach, currently head men's basketball coach at the University of North Dakota.
Sather, from Princeton, Minnesota, played college basketball for Northern State in Aberdeen, South Dakota 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 under Greg McDermott, 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.[1]
In 2005, Sather was named head coach of Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota.[2] 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.[3] In the 2008–09 season, he also won the DAC Coach of the Year.[4]
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 (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.[5] That team finished 36-4 and set a school record for single season wins and consecutive wins with 18.[6]
On May 30, 2019, Sather was announced as the new head coach for the North Dakota Fighting Hawks of the Summit League.[7] He picked Jamie Stevens and Zach Horstman, who were assistants under him at Northern State, as assistant coaches.[8] 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.[9] On March 14, 2023, it was announced that Sather was hired to a two year extension through the 2025-26 season.[10]
He has two children, Sam and Becca, and a wife named Kelsie.
|-| 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|}[11]
1 | 2021 |