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Northland College narrows finalists for men’s basketball coach

March 27, 2012

Three finalists have been invited to campus by Northland College Director of Athletics Bill Wilson to interview for the position of Northland men's basketball head coach. The candidates include Bruce Wilson, assistant coach with the Iowa Energy in the NBA's Developmental League; Stu Engen, former head coach at Minnesota State University in Moorhead; and Ron Jirsa, associate head coach at the University of Minnesota. The finalists will visit campus over the course of the next 10 days. Northland College expects to hire a head coach by early April.

Bruce Wilson is currently an assistant coach with the Iowa Energy in the NBA's Developmental League. Wilson was formerly the head coach at NCAA Division III school Simpson College for 25 years. He won 341 games while at Simpson and garnered three conference coach of the year awards in the Iowa Intercollegiate Conference. He was also named NCAA regional coach of the year and earned three NCAA Division III Tournament berths. Wilson coached three All-Americans, as well as three Academic All-Americans, at Simpson. Wilson also served as an assistant coach at Gonzaga University in Washington state.

Stu Engen has amassed over 300 career wins in his career as a college head coach. He was formerly the head coach at Minnesota State University in Moorhead (MSU-Moorhead) for eight years. Engen's teams broke several school records and his 2003 team finished with the best record (19-11) at MSU-Moorhead in 28 years. Prior to coaching at Moorhead, he was the head coach at NCAA Division III school University of Wisconsin-La Crosse for two years. During his time in La Crosse, Engen was named Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of The Year in 2002. Engen also coached at Upper Iowa University (UIU) for eight years. While there, Engen's teams won three Iowa Conference Championships, made two NCAA Division III Tournament appearances and compiled the best season record in school history twice. Engen was also named Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of The Year on three occasions and finished his career at UIU with a 135-70 record.

Ron Jirsa is currently the associate head coach at the University of Minnesota. During his time at Minnesota, the Gophers have appeared in the NCAA Tournament twice. The Gophers are currently playing in the Final Four of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). Prior to the University of Minnesota, Jirsa served as the head coach at NCAA Division I Marshall University in West Virginia for four seasons. He was also an assistant coach at the University of Dayton in Ohio where the Flyers amassed a record of 88-33 during his time there. Jirsa was also the head coach for two seasons at the University of Georgia. His 1998 team finished in third place in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). Jirsa has extensive college coaching experience with stints as an assistant coach at schools including Georgia, Gardner Webb, Tulsa, Belmont Abbey, Virginia Commonwealth, Delaware and Connecticut College.