Bernhard and Sather Ink Extensions with North Dakota Hoops

North Dakota plans to keep their coaches through the 2025-26 season

GRAND FORKS, N.D. —  The North Dakota Fighting Hawks Men’s and Women’s Basketball programs each gave their head coaches contract extensions today that will keep them on the sidelines through the 2025-26 season.

North Dakota Men’s Basketball recovered from a rocky start to this year’s season and was able to build a formidable identity with a deep rotation and exciting young talent. Coach Paul Sather completed his fourth year as head coach for the Fighting Hawks and will now have a chance to continue to develop a dangerous freshmen class featuring North Dakota’s 2022 Mr. Basketball, Treyson Eaglestaff. Sather shared his appreciation for the administration in today’s press conference.

“Just want to really thank our administration, Dr. Armacost and Bill Chaves and just having the belief in what we’re doing and the vision that we have and it hasn’t been always just smooth and easy but you know, we finished the season wining six of our last eight before that Oral Roberts game and you know there are a lot of exciting things happening,” said Sather.

As For the Women’s team, Coach Mallory Bernhard took over the program as the interim head coach during the pandemic riddled 2020-2021 season in which North Dakota finished with just two wins. The next season however the team took a 13 game jump finishing 15-15 climbing to fifth place in the conference. This season the Fighting Hawks took an even bigger jump finishing 3rd in the summit league with a 18-11 season including Bernhard’s first wins as a head coach over rivals: South Dakota and North Dakota State. As well as an invite to the women’s basketball invitational tournament that will tip off later this week. Bernhard was a sharp shooter in her playing days at North Dakota and a team captain her senior year. She is the program’s first ever former player to lead the team as head coach.

“I had awesome leaders even before me when I was a player and a phenomenal world class coach in Gene Roebuck so so what North Dakota basketball is all about and what’s important has been instilled in me since I was 18-years-old and caring about the program beyond just personal success is what it’s about and it’s about carrying a tradition on of all the players that came before and the wonderful thing’s they’ve done and so it means a lot that I can continue to make sure our players are aware of what’s come before us,” said Bernhard.