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Sather Resigns For MBB Head Coaching Position

Apr 1, 2005

BOULDER - University of Colorado assistant basketball coach Paul Sather has resigned his current position to become the head coach at Black Hills State University, a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Division II school in Spearfish, S.D. 

 

Sather is the second CU men's assistant to resign in the last three weeks. Jason Shelton, a four-year assistant left March 9th to become the head coach at Freed-Hardeman University, a NAIA school in Henderson, Tenn.

"I absolutely loved working here, the staff was great to work with, and I have all the respect in the world in what Coach Patton has done, especially being a part of it for a year," said Sather, who begins his new post this week.  "It's been a great experience having that many good people around you and I've learned many different things from every single one of them. It's hard to put a finger on just a few."

 

Sather has a wealth of coaching experiences at many levels from the high school level through the NCAA Division I and II levels. Sather spent six years as an assistant coach at Northern State University, his alma mater, before taking the job with CU this fall. He served as assistant coach for NSU for three Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) regular season championships and NSU's first ever NSIC Tournament Championship.

 

"I think it's a great opportunity for him," said CU head coach Ricardo Patton. "It's a job he has coveted and he'll do a nice job. It's a Division II program rich in tradition that competes for the national championship. I'm excited for him and it's an opportunity he can't pass up. Paul did a terrific job while he was here at Colorado."           

            

Originally from Princeton, Minn., Sather had a stellar career collegiate career with Northern State University as a player from 1990-1994. He was team captain for the NSU Wolves when they earned back-to-back national runner-up finishes in 1993 and 1994.

 

Sather is excited to be coming back to South Dakota and relishes the idea of leading a university basketball program.

 

"This is a great chance to come in and run a quality basketball program," Sather says. "My coaching experience has offered me many different challenges and I have been blessed to learn from some great coaches along the way. I look forward to joining the Yellow Jackets and to leading a highly competitive collegiate basketball program."

 

Steve Meeker, athletic director at BHSU, says that he thinks Sather is a perfect fit to guide the Yellow Jacket basketball program.

 

"We're excited to welcome Paul to Black Hills State," Meeker says. "I know he's a winner. Everyone I know who's had contact with him said he's the real deal."

 

Meeker added that Sather was chosen from a field of 83 applicants. Sather replaces Mike Kruszynski who resigned following the 2004-05 basketball season.

 

Sather earned his bachelor's degree in secondary education from NSU in 1995. He then served as physical education teacher and assistant boys' basketball coach at Sidney High School in Nebraska from 1996-1997. The following year, Sather returned to college basketball, serving as a graduate assistant at Wayne State while he earned a master's degree in sports administration.

 

Sather, his wife Kelsi, and their two-year-old son Samuel will be moving to the Spearfish area this spring and look forward to becoming a part of the community.

 

"I was really impressed with the community and all of the people I met there," Sather says, "That says a lot about a community and we are excited to live there."