6 days Ago By Eric Peterson
MOORHEAD — Minnesota State Moorhead athletic director Chad Markuson made a home-run hire in May 2022 when he named Tim Bergstraser as the school's men's basketball coach. Three year later, Markuson is looking for a similar outcome in hiring Bergstraser's replacement. The Denver Pioneers, in the Division I Summit League, announced Monday, April 14, they hired the 34-year-old Bergstraser after three seasons at Dragons head coach.
Bergstraser — who replaced Chad Walthall at MSUM — won 75 games in his three seasons with three trips to the NCAA Division II tournament. MSUM advanced to the D-II Central Region title game this past season after winning the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament. “This is one of the premier Division II jobs in my opinion, and you can be successful here," Markuson said.
A national search for Bergstraser's replacement started Monday, and Markuson said he would like to have a new head coach named in the "coming weeks." Bergstraser posted a 75-22 record while leading the Dragons. He was an assistant coach for Walthall, who averaged 21 wins per season in his 12-year tenure as MSUM's head coach.
Walthall retired from his post in March of 2022. Dragons associate head coach Spenser Bland could be a potential candidate, but he could also join Bergstraser's staff in Denver. Bland has spent an overall six seasons on the coaching staff in the Dragons program.
Below are other possibilities the Dragons could consider to replace Bergstraser: Walthall: He built the MSUM program over 12 years. He retired. He was in the mix to become the University of Mary's new coach, which would indicate he's open to getting back in the game.
So why not? Still a longshot. Matt Murken : The Minot State head men's basketball coach is coming off a 26-win season, leading the program to its first NCAA D-II tournament appearance. The Beavers played for the NSIC tournament crown against the Dragons.
Would Murken want to leave what he's built at Minot State to remain in the NSIC? Murken also had a success at the University of Jamestown prior to taking over at Minot State. Casey Bruggeman : Bruggeman is coming off his first season as head men's basketball coach at the University of Jamestown, which is set to enter the NSIC for the 2025-2026 season. Would Bruggeman, from Pelican Rapids, Minnesota, want to make the move to a more established NSIC program? Jeff Boschee : The Valley City (N.
D.) High School graduate has ties to the area and has been a successful Division II head coach at Missouri Southern State and more recently Pitt State. Would a move closer to home appeal to the former University of Kansas star shooting guard? Matt Fletcher : The Concordia-St.
Paul head coach led the Golden Bears to 22 wins and the Central Region semifinals this past season. The reigning NSIC coach of the year was an assistant coach at Concordia College in Moorhead in 2008-09. Luke Strege : Dave Richman's top assistant at North Dakota State was the head coach for eight years at a junior college in Missouri.
Having a mix of head coaching experience, JUCO connections and Summit League assistant cred isn't a bad combo in the NSIC. Paul Sather : Leaving a Division I head coaching post for Division II makes no sense, except when you figure Sather is in the last year of his contract at North Dakota and probably stands a 50-50 chance of being retained past 2025-26. Plus, he had success at Northern State of the NSIC before taking the UND job.
Jeremiah Samarrippas : If the Dragons are looking for an outside-the-box hire, the former Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.) University head coach could be intriguing. Samarrippas posted a 105-25 record the past for seasons as head coach for the D-II program.
He led the Railsplitters to a 25-6 record this past season, including a trip to the D-II tournament. His contract, however, was not renewed. Kyan Brown : A longshot, but Brown's name was tossed around three years ago when Bergstraser got the job and the former Bison assistant and current Omaha assistant was said to have a flicker of interest.
With Omaha's success, though, it's likely Brown will stay in Division I and hope to be the Mavericks' next head man whenever Chris Crutchfield moves up the ladder..
