BISMARCK, N.D.—The University of Mary’s new men’s basketball coach has experience coaching at the NCAA Division II level, including working as an assistant under the University of North Dakota’s all-time coaching wins leader.
Randall Herbst on Thursday was named to lead the Marauders program, which has made the move in recent years from NAIA to NCAA competition. He becomes only the sixth head men’s basketball coach in the 38-year history of the Mary program.
“He has consistently been associated with winning programs and I believe he can bring success to the Marauders program,” athletic director Roger Thomas said Thursday.
Herbst, 38, a native of Beaver Dam, Wis., most recently was an assistant and recruiting coordinator at Nebraska-Omaha, another Division II school. In his two seasons there, the Mavericks went 42-18.
“This is an outstanding opportunity for me to coach at a school that has had a history of basketball and athletic success,” said Herbst. “The Marauders compete in one of the strongest NCAA Division II basketball conferences in the nation, and I look forward to the challenge.”
Mary competes in the Northern Sun Conference.
Herbst is a 1993 graduate of Winona State University in Minnesota and holds a master’s degree in sports administration from Minnesota State University. He has 16 years of experience coaching college basketball, including two years as a head coach at Waldorf Junior College in Iowa. He also has been an assistant at Florida Southern, Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee and North Iowa Area Community College.
He was at UND from 2000-06, where he worked under Rich Glas, UND’s all-time coaching wins leader.
Herbst was one of three finalists for the Mary job. The others were former Wisconsin-Green Bay coach Mike Heideman, who’s now a player development director at Washington State; and Peninsula (Wash.) College coach Pete Stewart, a native of Parshall and a UND graduate.
Herbst succeeds Juno Pintar, who resigned in March after leading the Marauders program during its transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II.
