Current Minnesota Duluth assistant coach Matt Hockett, along with Dan Evans, Jeff Horner and Justin Wieck, are the four finalists for the Minnesota Duluth men's basketball coaching vacancy, announced Tuesday.
Hockett, a former UMD basketball forward, recently completed his third season as an assistant coach at his alma mater, having helped produce three All-NSIC performers. He spent the previous six seasons as head boys basketball coach at Stoughton (Wis.) High School, helping the Vikings win four straight Badger Conference championships while in 2013 helping them advance to the state tournament for the first time since 1939.
Evans, head coach at Ohio Dominican University, an NCAA Division II program in Columbus, Ohio, has gone 59-69 the past five seasons, including 20-11 this season and earning the school's first NCAA tournament berth.
Horner has been a University of North Dakota assistant coach the past three seasons after serving as director of operations in 2014-15. Two years ago, the Fighting Hawks claimed their first Big Sky regular-season and playoff titles while earning their first trip to the NCAA Division I tournament. Horner played basketball at the University of Iowa before playing professionally in Belgium, France and with the Iowa Energy of the NBA Development League.
Wieck, another former Iowa basketball player, joined the Minnesota State-Moorhead coaching staff in 2014 and has been part of Dragons' teams that have gone 96-38 since his arrival, including a program-best 35-4 mark that first season and first trip to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight. Wieck previously served two years at Jamestown (N.D.) University, guiding the Jimmies to a 32-31 record, including an NAIA national tournament appearance in 2014.
ADVERTISEMENT
The finalists will be on campus this week for interviews, with UMD expected to hire its 17th men's basketball coach in the coming weeks.
