St. Cloud State University

Kevin Schlagel

Head Men's Basketball Coach

St. Cloud State head basketball coach Kevin Schlagel has been associated with the basketball program for much of his adult life; first as a player, followed by 17 years as the top assistant, and then in 1997 being named the head coach of Husky Basketball.

His pride in SCSU basketball is evident in his background and even more evident in the way in which he has led the program to success year after year. Schlagel's teams have won 17 or more games in eight seasons during his tenure and have been 20-game winners five times.        

For nine seasons, Schlagel has guided the Huskies in one of the most productive stretches in SCSU basketball history. Since Schlagel was named head coach at SCSU, the Huskies have compiled a 179-81 overall record and a 90-54 mark in the North Central Conference.  Along the way, SCSU has won an NCC regular season title in 2002-03 (the first since the Huskies' triple crown in 1986, 1987 and 1988), has been selected for NCAA tournament play four times since 2000 (2000, 2001, 2003 and 2006) and the Huskies have won the NCC Wells Fargo Finals tournament twice in the tournament's four-year history.   In the NCAA tournament, Schlagel's troops advanced to the regional finals in 2001 and also collected a first round win in 2003.

In addition, his players have consistently been recognized for excellence throughout his tenure. For four straight years and in five of the last seven years, an SCSU player has been named the NCC Defensive Player of the Year. Last season, in 2005 Steve Trull earned the honor, following in the foot steps of Alex Carlson (2004) and Jason Kron (2000, 2002, 2003).  The Huskies have gained several other top league honors as Forrest Witt was named the MVP of the Wells Fargo Finals in 2001 and 2003.  Jason Kron was a three-time NCC Defensive Player of the Year award winner during his college career, and also gained All-NCC honors in 2002-03. Rado Rancik gained All-Region honors after helping the team to an impressive 25-6 record in 2000-01. In 1999-00, first year player Jason Kron was named the NCC Freshman of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. Following the 1998-99 season Rado Rancik was voted the NCC Freshman of the Year and in 1997-98 Jon Hinzman earned All-America and NCC Most Valuable Player honors. An assistant coach for former head coaches Butch Raymond, Sam Skarich and Noel Olson, Schlagel has been on the coaching staff at SCSU since 1980.

He started his association with the SCSU program in 1972 as a player for Olson. As a senior, Schlagel helped guide SCSU to a Northern Intercollegiate Conference title in 1975-76. Following his graduation in 1976, Schlagel was the head basketball coach at Shellsburg (Iowa) High School from 1977-80. He returned as an assistant to Olson and has since been a vital member of the Husky coaching staff since 1980 - including an 11-game stretch in 1983-84 when Schlagel served as the interim head coach.

He served as the recruiting coordinator and director of operations and player personnel for the Huskies. From 1985-1988, Schlagel was part of SCSU's triple crown in the North Central Conference as the Huskies won three consecutive conference titles. The Huskies posted a 76-15 record during those three campaigns and also advanced to the NCAA Division II playoffs in each of those seasons. In 1986-87, the Huskies advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA playoffs for the first time in school history.

Schlagel believes his tenure at SCSU has provided him with the needed experience to be successful as a collegiate head coach.

"I have had a great experience at St. Cloud State," Schlagel said. "I have learned a lot about basketball from the coaches I have worked with and one of those things is to have fun within the game.

"Our goal this season, as it will be for every season, is to win the NCC title and qualify for the NCAA playoffs. In order to accomplish those goals, the first step is to play to our potential every time we hit the court. I want our players to know that when we walk into the locker room after the game, we gave our best effort."

Schlagel hopes to build on the success that has made SCSU one of the elite programs in the NCC since the mid 1980s. His game plan will center around an uptempo style of play - one that has been a trademark of Husky basketball.

"We like to be up tempo and aggressive in our style of play," Schlagel said. "On offense and defense, we will be looking to force the action as much as possible."

To fill his roster each season, Schlagel will be looking for talented student-athletes. "When it comes to recruiting, we will be looking for quality student-athletes who have demonstrated good citizenship throughout their high school and collegiate careers."

A native of Rush City, Minn., Schlagel played basketball and baseball at Rush City High School. Schlagel, his wife Pam and their daughter Leah reside in St. Cloud.

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