Head coach Paula Krueger of ThunderRidge Grizzlies calls out plays against the Broomfield Eagles during the first half of the girls 5A state championship game March 14, 2015. (AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post)
ThunderRidge varsity girls basketball coach Paula Krueger resigned from her position to accept an assistant coaching job at Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D., athletic director Sean Patterson said on Thursday.
Krueger will prepare for the ultimate homecoming, and is returning to the sidelines of her alma mater where she played Division II women’s hoops for four years under current head coach Curt Fredrickson. Krueger was part of two NAIA National Championship teams as a sophomore in 1992 and in 1994, where she earned tournament MVP honors as a senior. Her team was the national championship runner-up in 1993. She was inducted into Northern’s Hall of Fame in 2005.
Patterson said an assistant coaching position suddenly came up at the university, and Fredrickson reached out to Krueger.
“I had no plans or intentions of leaving at all,” Krueger said. “He (Fredrickson) called about two weeks ago, and said, ‘I’d really like it if you came home,'” Krueger said. “He is a huge and important figure for me, and has been ever since I was a freshman at Northern.”
Krueger will start as an assistant coach, but her goal is to be the head coach one day. She knows it’s in the future.
She told the Grizzlies team about her emotional decision on Wednesday. “She said this is the only job that would have taken her away from ThunderRidge,” Patterson said.
Krueger served as the girls hoops head coach and physical education teacher for two years at ThunderRidge. She was extremely successful, and finished her coaching tenure with the Grizzlies with a 42-10 mark, and as .
Before ThunderRidge, Krueger head coached at the Colorado School of Mines for nine seasons, where she became the program’s winningest coach with a 133-125 record. She helped lead the team to the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in the 2009-10 season, and its first Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship in 2008-09.
Krueger’s departure happened very suddenly, and leaves ThunderRidge with two positions to fill. Patterson said the school will soon begin searching to make hires.
Seven seniors return to the basketball team next year, including leading scorers Taylor Rusk (14.0 PPG) and Jaz’myne Snipes (11.9 PPG).
“It’s a great school and community with great athletics. We need to find the right fit for the girls now, and ThunderRidge in the long term,” Patterson said.
Krueger put a lot of time and thought into her decision, but in the end, timing was everything.
“My entire family still lives in South Dakota, and so does my husband’s,” Krueger said. “My brother is expecting a baby soon, and my niece is starting kindergarten. It was the right decision at the right time. Northern is definitely home for me.”
