| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | North Dakota |
| Conference | Summit League |
| Record | 55–90 |
| 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 | 337–241 |
| Tournaments | 3–2 (NAIA) 5–3 (NCAA Division II) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 2 NSIC regular season (2018, 2019) 2 NSIC tournament (2018, 2019) 2 DAC (2009, 2010) 2 NSIC North Division (2018, 2019) | |
| 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.
| 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 | ||||||
| 2006–07 | Black Hills State | 10–19 | 5–9 | ||||||
| 2007–08 | Black Hills State | 16–14 | 8–7 | ||||||
| 2008–09 | Black Hills State | 30–5 | 13–1 | NAIA Division II Final Four | |||||
| 2009–10 | Black Hills State | 21–10 | 10–3 | 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 | |||||
| 2013–14 | Northern State | 18–11 | 13–9 | 8th | |||||
| 2014–15 | Northern State | 23–9 | 15–7 | 4th | NCAA Division II first round | ||||
| 2015–16 | Northern State | 18–12 | 13–9 | 4th | |||||
| 2016–17 | Northern State | 22–8 | 17–5 | T–2nd | |||||
| 2017–18 | Northern State | 36–4 | 20–2 | 1st | NCAA Division II Runner-up | ||||
| 2018–19 | Northern State | 26–7 | 18–4 | 1st | 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 | 12–10 | 4–3 | ||||||
| North Dakota: | 55–90 (.379) | 27–48 (.360) | |||||||
| Total: | 337–241 (.583) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
| 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 |
| 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 |