NMU names men’s basketball coaching finalists

Courtesy of NMU Athletics

MARQUETTE, Mich. – Four finalists for the head men’s basketball coaching position at Northern Michigan University will be on campus from April 29-May 2. Each candidate will spend a day at NMU, meeting with various groups and presenting at a public forum.

The four candidates are Tom Brown, associate men’s head coach at Winona (Minn.) State University; Dan Evans, assistant men’s coach at Hillsdale College; Jeff Kaminsky, men’s head coach at Valley City (S.D.) State University; and Bill Sall, men’s head coach at Ferris State University.

Evans will be the first to visit campus on Monday (April 29) followed by Brown on Tuesday (April 30), Kaminsky on Wednesday (May 1) and Sall on Thursday (May 2). The public and media are invited to a 2 p.m. community forum at the Izzo-Mariucci Room in the Berry Events Center for each  candidate.

“The search committee has done a great job,” NMU Athletic Director Forrest Karr said. “Each committee member scored 98 qualified applicants, viewed and scored all 16 Skype interviews, and participated in discussions that led to the finalists being invited for on-campus interviews. Our goal now is to find the best fit for Northern Michigan University and the greater Marquette community.”

Tom Brown

Brown recently completed his 15th season with Winona State as the Warriors finished 27-8 and won the NCAA Central Regional in 2012-13. He has 20 years of coaching experience and helped coach the Warriors to National Championships in 2006 and 2008. WSU set an NCAA Division II record with 57 consecutive wins from 2006-07 while winning an all-division record 38 games during the 2007-08 season. Winona posted a 105-6 combined record during the 2005-06 through 2007-08 seasons.

During Brown’s WSU tenure, Winona State has won six Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Championships (1998-99, 1999-00, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08) and five NSIC Tournament titles (2001, ’06, ’07, ’08, ’11). The Warriors have also qualified for the NCAA Regional Tournament nine times and claimed four NCAA Central Region championships during that period.

Brown played basketball at Winona State from 1988-92. He ranks 11th at the school in career scoring, fifth in assists and second in steals. He earned his bachelor’s degree in 1993 in physical education and completed his master’s degree at WSU in education in 1998.

Dan Evans

Evans completed his sixth season as the top assistant men’s basketball coach with the Hillsdale Chargers in 2012-13. The Chargers are 107-60 in his six seasons and won the program’s first outright conference championship in 30 years, hosting the Great Lake Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship for the first time in school history and earning a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in a decade.

Evans leads the recruiting effort at Hillsdale that includes student-athletes from Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. The 2011-12 GLIAC Championship team had five starters from five different states. His recruits have earned a conference championship, an NCAA Tournament berth, 11 all-conference selections, six all-defensive selections and 28 academic all-conference honors.

Evans played his college basketball at Lawrence University from 2002-05. The Vikings won back-to-back conference championships, earned two NCAA Tournament berths and advanced to the Elite Eight in the 2004 NCAA Tournament. He was a team captain and named all-Midwest Conference selection, during his senior year. He also received the 2005 Ralph V. Landis Award winner given to the senior male athlete that made the most outstanding contributions to Lawrence athletics. He graduated from Lawrence with a bachelor’s degree in history.

Jeff Kaminsky

Kaminsky has coached eight seasons as the head coach for the Valley City State Vikings. He has led the Vikings to four 20-win seasons, including a 21-9 mark in 2012-13. In 2007-08, the team finished 22-8 for the first 20-win season in 20 years. The Vikings were the Dakota Athletic Conference co-champions in 09-10, finishing 20-10. They again finished with a 20-10 record in ’11-12. Kaminsky’s overall record at VCSU is 133-103.

Prior to arriving at VCSU, Kaminsky served 11 seasons as the head coach at University of Wisconsin-Superior. He also spent seven seasons as the head coach at Mid-State Technical College in Wisconsin Rapids and was a graduate assistant at Kent State University.

Prior to coaching, Kaminsky played two years at the College of DuPage and two years at Grand Valley State University. He was a junior college All-American honorable mention at DuPage and the GLIAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year at GVSU. Kaminsky graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from GVSU and received his master’s degree in sport psychology from Kent State.

Bill Sall

Sall completed his 11th season as the head coach of the Ferris State Bulldogs in 2012-13. Under his direction, the Bulldogs have won four Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference North Division titles and reached the NCAA Division II Tournament three times, including a pair of regional championship game appearances.

Sall served four seasons (1998-2002) as an assistant coach at Hillsdale before going back to FSU where he was the top assistant from (1995-98). During the 1995-96 campaign, he had the opportunity to hold a portion of the season as the Bulldogs’ interim head coach. Sall began his coaching career as an assistant coach at his alma mater Calvin College from 1992-95.

Sall was a standout player at Calvin from 1985-90. A two-time (1989-90) Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association co-Most Valuable Player, Sall currently ranks as the Knights’ third-leading all-time scorer with 2,063 points, which included a 70-game double-figure scoring streak. He was a two-time (1989-90) second-team National Association of Basketball Coaches Division III All-American. Sall graduated from Calvin in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in recreation management.