DWU hires Kevin Williamson to lead Tiger men's basketball
May 13—MITCHELL — After nearly two months, Dakota Wesleyan has hired a new men's basketball coach.
The university has hired Kevin Williamson, who was previously the head coach at the University of Saint Katherine, an NAIA school in California that recently announced it was closing its doors. Williamson is the 20th men's basketball coach in DWU history.
"I want to thank athletic director Ross Cimpl, President Kittle and coach Christensen for the entire hiring process at DWU. They were extremely thorough, diligent, and welcoming throughout the entire process. I felt extremely comfortable on the visit with everyone I met, and I felt how genuine everyone was, it made the decision easy for us." Williamson said in a university announcement.
Williamson is coming to DWU off three consecutive winning seasons, including a 23-9 mark for the Firebirds in 2023-24 and a trip to the NAIA tournament out of the Cal Pac Conference. His teams were 83-41 over the last five seasons, making the NAIA tournament in 2022 and 2024.
"We have an unbelievable history with so many proud alumni. This next step in our history should be very exciting, and I can't wait to see what coach Williamson and our men's basketball student athletes achieve," DWU athletic director Ross Cimpl said.
Originally from San Diego, he previously worked as an assistant coach at NCAA Division II Bemidji State (Minn.) and Minnesota Duluth, along with Utah Tech when it was known as Dixie State and still in Division II. He's also coached high school basketball in Arizona and California. Williamson played college basketball at the University of Providence (Mont.)
Williamson comes to DWU after USK announced last month it was closing and terminating all of its staff, citing the university's financial conditions. The university had fewer than 250 students at the time of its closing, nearly all of them athletes. In addition to being the head coach at USK, he has served as assistant athletic director for compliance and eligibility for the school in San Marcos, California.
The search for a new DWU coach began after Matt Wilber announced his resignation as head coach on March 19 to take an assistant coaching position with the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury. Wilber coached the Tigers for 11 years, leading the program to a 224-125 overall record.
Last season, DWU finished with a 14-15 record, and went 9-11 in Great Plains Athletic Conference play.
"I also want to say thank you to coach Wilber for leaving the program in a great place with quality student-athletes that are talented players to build upon," Williamson said. "It's rare to get to take over a great program that's on solid ground and I believe coach Wilbs did that here. ... "My wife Vanessa and myself feel thankful and blessed to become a part of the DWU community and Mitchell. We have wanted a new adventure for a few years now and wanted to get back to the Midwest where we first met. We are very excited for our move to Mitchell this summer."
