By Northern State has parted ways with Saul Phillips and is looking for the 23rd men’s basketball coach in the school’s history.
Who might be looking to rebuild the program that logged only two victories this season? I honestly don’t know, but there are a handful names floating through the Aberdeen air. Some make more sense than others, but it’s a wait-and-see situation.
It would be logical for Northern to want to make a hire quickly, so the new coach can step in and get to work, especially when it comes to next season’s roster.
Waltman
Since the basketball community is curious, let’s speculate a little. And that’s the right word — speculate.
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While I hear things around town, I have not spoken with anybody at Northern about where the process stands and who might be in the fold. In other words, some of these coaches might not be in the running. And there could certainly be others the university has been in contact with. Furthermore, I have not reached out to any of these coaches.
All we’re doing here is kicking around ideas. Northern is, obviously, calling the shots. With that bit of disclosure, here we go. Oh, and for what it’s worth, these eight names are in no particular order.
Matt Hammer, head coach, Colorado State Pueblo: Hammer was a star at Northern, playing under coach Don Meyer. He played for two Wolves teams that won the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament. He was a two-time all-region player and finished his career with 1,686 points.
Hammer is wrapping up his sixth season at Colorado State Pueblo, which has a 12-15 record. His teams in Pueblo have generally hovered just below the .500 mark, but he had great success at Sheridan College in Wyoming where he accumulated a 118-43 record in five seasons.
Clearly, Hammer has a strong connection to Northern. Fans and university officials haven’t forgotten his playing days or his ties to Meyer. He was a graduate assistant at NSU for two seasons.
Sather
Paul Sather, head coach, University of North Dakota: Sather led the Wolves for nine seasons before being hired away by North Dakota. His record at Northern was 188-89, which led to his promotion to the Division I level. As head coach of the Fighting Hawks, he has a combined 72-112 record with The Summit League Tournament looming.
Even casual basketball fans know Sather was a solid player at Northern. It’s hard to believe he wouldn’t be welcomed back. But let’s pump the brakes. For one thing, his team is still playing. And for another, if UND wants him to remain after the season, it would make no sense for him to return to Aberdeen. It would be a huge cut in pay.
Word on the street is there’s already been a thanks-but-no-thanks call with Sather. It sure seems unlikely he’d return to the Wolves at this point.
Casey Bruggeman, head coach, Jamestown University: Bruggeman just finished his first season with the Jimmies, accumulating a 16-10 record that included two victories against Northern. Jamestown will be a full-fledged member of the NSIC next season.
Before arriving at Jamestown, he was the director of basketball operations and player development at the University of South Dakota. Bruggeman was previously an assistant coach at Minnesota Duluth and the University of Mary. He’s obviously familiar with the conference. And Jamestown’s two wins against the Wolves this season aren’t lost on local fans.
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From a basketball family, Bruggeman played at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., after being recruited by the Jimmies. Northern might make a logical next step in his coaching career.
Craig Smith, former Utah head coach: Smith was recently fired by the University of Utah where he compiled a 65-62 mark over four seasons. That wasn’t good enough for the Utes, a program with a strong basketball history.
Smith
Smith had successful runs as head coach at Utah State and the University of South Dakota as he made his way up the ranks. He has tangential ties to Northern State, having worked as an assistant coach under Tim Miles at Mayville State, North Dakota State, Colorado State and Nebraska. Miles is a Doland native who was an assistant coach at Northern for six years. He’s now the head coach at San Jose State.
It’s hard to know if Smith would have interest in the Northern job. He’s seeking a new gig, but had success at two Division I schools, so he’s likely to have options. But that doesn’t mean, Smith’s isn’t an intriguing name.
Justin Wieck, head coach, University of Minnesota Duluth: Weick is finishing his seventh season with the Bulldogs where he’s had a great run and compiled a 142-57 record. Duluth has finished in the top three in the NSIC regular season standings in all but two of Weick’s seasons, including this one. Even so, the Dogs are 20-9 entering the conference tournament.
Before arriving in Duluth, Wieck spent two seasons as head coach at the University of Jamestown. He’s been an assistant coach at Minnesota State Moorhead, Northern State and Iowa. It feels like he has the chops to move up, if he wishes.
And that’s why it might not make much sense for him to take over a Northern program that needs some serious TLC. It’s a lateral move, and that might be a generous description just now. My sense is he might have better options, but his name has made the rounds.
Matt Murken, head coach, Minot State: Murken is in his 13th year as the head man at Minot where he’s amassed nearly 200 wins, including a 24-8 mark heading into this season’s NSIC tournament. Three times, he’s won at least 20 games with the Beavers, all of them in the past eight years.
In 2023-24, Minot was ranked in the NCAA Division II Top 25 for the first time in program history. The Beavers are trending in the right direction, though there have also been some lean years for Murken.
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Before taking the Minot job, he had two strong seasons at Jamestown University. But beyond the geographic and NSIC ties, there don’t seem to be any connections to Northern. Aberdeen likely has a stronger basketball fan base than Minot does, at least when the Wolves are winning, so maybe that piques his interest?
Brooks McCowan, head coach, Upper Iowa: McCowan is in his 12th season leading the Peacocks and has logged at least 16 victories in 10 of those years, including this season. Upper Iowa is now a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, but was previously in the NSIC, so McCowan knows the lay of the land.
Iowa’s 2003 Mr. Basketball, McCowan had a great college career at Northern Iowa as the Panthers won 20 games and advanced to the NCAA Division I tournament three times. In Cedar Rapids, he played under Greg McDermott, who is now the head coach at Creighton. In other words, McCowan had a great mentor.
If you can field consistently good teams in Decorah, Iowa, it figures you can do even better at Northern. But would McCowan be interested in leaving his home state for Aberdeen?
Pat Monaghan, assistant coach, University of Wyoming: Monaghan is in his first year as an assistant at the University of Wyoming. The Cowboys’ head coach is, of course, former Northern State star player and graduate assistant Sundance Wicks.
Wicks
Wicks and Monaghan both made the move to Laramie from Wisconsin-Green Bay where, in one season, they helped the Phoenix improve from 3-29 in 2022-23 to 18-14 last season. A recommendation from Wicks would certainly carry some sway in Aberdeen, where he was beloved on campus and beyond.
Monaghan has also been an assistant coach at Southern Illinois, Minnesota State Mankato and Coffeyville Community College. He worked for two years as director of basketball operations at Loyola Chicago. He’s certainly paid his dues, and with some excellent coaches at that. He’s worth serious consideration at NSU.
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That’s a solid list of eight candidates. Surely there have been many more applicants, including others with ties to the Wolves.
Could Northern hire a high school coach who has some previous experience at the college level? Perhaps, though it doesn’t feel likely. But, again, I don’t know. The folks on campus are calling the shots.
Only time will tell who takes the mantle. Until then, there’s just water cooler chatter and barroom banter.
Scott Waltman is a longtime South Dakota journalist and the managing editor at The Aberdeen Insider. He’ll forever be a recovering sportswriter.