Paul Sather
American college basketball coach
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Paul Robert Sather (born August 28, 1971) is an American college basketball coach, currently head men's basketball coach at the University of North Dakota.[1]
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | North Dakota |
| Conference | Summit League |
| Record | 91–132 (.408) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | August 28, 1971 Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1990–1994 | Northern State |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1996–1997 | Sidney HS (assistant) |
| 1997–1998 | Wayne State (NE) (GA) |
| 1998–2004 | Northern State (assistant) |
| 2004–2005 | Colorado (assistant) |
| 2005–2010 | Black Hills State |
| 2010–2019 | Northern State |
| 2019–present | North Dakota |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 373–283 (.569) |
| Tournaments | 3–2 (NAIA) 5–3 (NCAA Division II) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
As a coach
As a player
| |
| Awards | |
Early life
Sather, from Princeton, Minnesota, played college basketball for Northern State in Aberdeen, South Dakota from 1990 to 1994. While there, he helped lead the Wolves to a NSIC regular season championship in 1993, as well as back–to–back appearances in the NAIA Division II national championship game in 1993 and 1994.[2][3]
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 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.[4]
Black Hills State
In 2005, Sather was named head coach of Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota.[5] 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 as well as winning the DAC regular season and tournament championships.[6] In the 2008–09 season, he also won the DAC Coach of the Year.[7] His 2009–10 team finished 21–10, winning the DAC regular season championship with a 10–3 record. The Yellow Jackets would make their second straight appearance in the NAIA Division II tournament, losing in the first round to the Saint Francis Cougars by a score of 86–83.[8] Following the season, four players were named to the DAC All-Conference team, Luke Enos, Cain Atkinson, Will John Johnson, and Clay Pottorff.[9] Will John Johnson was named as the DAC Defensive Player of the Year and Cain Atkinson was named as an NAIA Honorable Mention All-American.[9] Luke Enos was also named as the DAC Player of the Year and was named as an NAIA First Team All-American.[9]
In 2023, the 2008–09 team was inducted in the Black Hills State Athletics Hall of Fame.[10]
Northern State
Sather was then hired to lead the program at his alma mater, Northern State, replacing Don Meyer. The Wolves made their first postseason appearance under Sather in 2015, where they would end up losing to Central Missouri in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament.[11] During the 2017–18 season, the Wolves finished 36-4 and set a school record for single season wins and consecutive wins with 18, as well as winning the NSIC regular season championship for the first time since the 2002–03 season, the NSIC tournament for the first time since 2005, as well as their first ever NSIC North Division title.[12][3] That season, they made it to the championship game of the 2018 NCAA Division II tournament for the first time in school history, narrowly losing to Ferris State by a score of 69–71.[13] Following the season, four players were named to the NSIC All–Conference team and Sather was awarded his first NSIC Coach of the Year award.[3] The Wolves finished the 2018–19 season with a overall record of 26–7 (18–4 NSIC) and won their second consecutive NSIC regular season, tournament, and North Division championship.[3] They also made a second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament, where they would lose to Southeastern Oklahoma State in the first round by a score of 103–115.[14] Following the season, Sather was named the NSIC Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year.[3]
During his nine seasons at Northern State, Sather led 18 NSIC All–Conference selections, one Academic All–American, and accumulated an overall record of 188–89.[3]
North Dakota
On May 30, 2019, Sather was announced as the new head coach for the North Dakota Fighting Hawks of the Summit League.[15] He picked Jamie Stevens and Zach Horstman, who were assistants under him at Northern State, as assistant coaches.[16] 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.[17] Earlier that season, he also led the Fighting Hawks to their first win against a Big Ten Conference opponent since 1933, defeating the Nebraska Cornhuskers by a score of 75–74.[18] On March 14, 2023, it was announced that Sather was hired to a two year extension through the 2025–26 season.[19] On February 18, 2026, it was announced that Sather received a three year extension through the 2028–29 season.[20] In 2026, the Fighting Hawks made their second appearance in the Summit League tournament championship game, but would lose to North Dakota State by a score of 62–70.[21]
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Hills State Yellow Jackets (Dakota Athletic Conference) (2005–2010) | |||||||||
| 2005–06 | Black Hills State | 17–14 | 10–4 | 2nd | |||||
| 2006–07 | Black Hills State | 10–19 | 5–9 | 7th | |||||
| 2007–08 | Black Hills State | 16–14 | 8–7 | 4th | |||||
| 2008–09 | Black Hills State | 30–5 | 13–1 | 1st | NAIA Division II Final Four | ||||
| 2009–10 | Black Hills State | 21–10 | 10–3 | 1st | NAIA Division II First Round | ||||
| Black Hills State: | 94–62 (.603) | 46–24 (.657) | |||||||
| Northern State Wolves (Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) (2010–2019) | |||||||||
| 2010–11 | Northern State | 12–14 | 7–14 | T–10th | |||||
| 2011–12 | Northern State | 13–13 | 9–13 | T–8th | |||||
| 2012–13 | Northern State | 20–11 | 14–8 | T–5th / 2nd (North) | |||||
| 2013–14 | Northern State | 18–11 | 13–9 | 8th / 4th (North) | |||||
| 2014–15 | Northern State | 23–9 | 15–7 | 4th / 2nd (North) | NCAA Division II First Round | ||||
| 2015–16 | Northern State | 18–12 | 13–9 | 4th / 2nd (North) | |||||
| 2016–17 | Northern State | 22–8 | 17–5 | T–2nd / 2nd (North) | |||||
| 2017–18 | Northern State | 36–4 | 20–2 | 1st / 1st (North) | NCAA Division II Runner–Up | ||||
| 2018–19 | Northern State | 26–7 | 18–4 | 1st / 1st (North) | NCAA Division II First Round | ||||
| Northern State: | 188–89 (.679) | 126–71 (.640) | |||||||
| North Dakota Fighting Hawks (Summit League) (2019–present) | |||||||||
| 2019–20 | North Dakota | 15–18 | 7–9 | 6th | |||||
| 2020–21 | North Dakota | 9–17 | 8–8 | 5th | |||||
| 2021–22 | North Dakota | 6–25 | 2–16 | 10th | |||||
| 2022–23 | North Dakota | 13–20 | 6–12 | 9th | |||||
| 2023–24 | North Dakota | 18–14 | 10–6 | T–2nd | |||||
| 2024–25 | North Dakota | 12–21 | 5–11 | T–6th | |||||
| 2025–26 | North Dakota | 18–17 | 10–6 | 3rd | |||||
| North Dakota: | 91–132 (.408) | 48–68 (.414) | |||||||
| Total: | 373–283 (.569) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
Career stats
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
College
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990–91 | Northern State | 14 | 0 | .86 | 1.00 | 0.60 | 0.07 | 0.14 | 0.14 | 0.90 | ||
| 1991–92 | Northern State | 6 | 0 | .33 | .40 | 0.66 | 0.00 | 0.16 | 0.33 | 1.33 | ||
| 1992–93 | Northern State | 36 | 18 | .58 | 1.00 | .57 | 3.88 | 0.94 | 0.97 | 0.61 | 7.16 | |
| 1993–94 | Northern State | 34 | 34 | .59 | .61 | 5.58 | 1.44 | 0.97 | 0.55 | 9.97 |
Source: [22]
Coaching tree
Assistant coaches under Sather who became NCAA or NBA head coaches
- Sundance Wicks – Missouri Western (2018–2020), Green Bay (2023–2024), Wyoming (2024–present)
- Steve Smiley – Northern Colorado (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.
His son, Sam, played college football as an offensive lineman for the Northern State Wolves from 2021 to 2023 and then for the Dakota State Trojans from 2024 to 2025.[23][24]