Ex-Iowa assistant lands head coaching job

Former Iowa men's basketball assistant coach Chad Walthall was named head coach at Division II Minnesota State-Moorhead over the weekend.

Walthall, a Staples, Minn., native, played college football at Concordia University in the same city. Walthall was a well-respected coach at Iowa and filled in for three games (and one exhibition) for ailing coach Todd Lickliter in his three seasons as an assistant. Walthall also was a solid recruiter for the Hawkeyes as well.

Here's the news release:

MOORHEAD, Minn. - Minnesota State University Moorhead Dragons Athletics Director Doug Peters announced Saturday that the Chad Walthall has been named the Head Men's Basketball Coach at MSUM.

“Chad is a great addition to the Dragons Athletic Department, ” Peters said. “ He has proven that he can build a winning program and at the same time his leadership style and personality fit into the vision we have for MSUM Athletics. ”

Walthall becomes the 13th men's basketball coach at MSUM in the 86-year history of the program. He comes to the Dragons after serving as the Head Assistant Coach at the University of Iowa.

“My family and I are very excited and grateful to be a part of the Dragon family,” Walthall said. “I have tremendous respect for MSU-Moorhead and am honored to be named the Head Men's Basketball Coach.”

“After meeting with the current team, President Szymanski, Athletics Director Doug Peters and the department staff, it was very clear that if given the opportunity it would be an excellent fit,” He continued. “Having been a part of this community in the past, I know how loyal and dedicated fans can be and am looking forward to building a program that the university and community will be very proud of.”

Walthall has served as the primary assistant at the University of Iowa for the past three seasons. Prior to joining the Hawkeye's staff, Walthall was the Head Coach (2000-2007) and Athletics Director (2003-2007) at Loras College (Iowa), a NCAA DIII institution that competes in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

In his first season at LC, Walthall led the Duhawks to a fourth place finish in the IIAC and hosted its first conference tournament game in school history. The DuHawks never had a losing season under his guidance and in his last three years, Loras won 77% (37-11) of its league games, more than any other basketball program in the conference.

According to Peters, that experience as the head basketball coach and athletics director at Loras played a significant role in the decision to hire Walthall.

“Coach Walthall built the basketball program at Loras,” Peters said. “He took a team that was at the bottom of the league and created a program that had seven consecutive winning seasons, including a 15-1 conference record and IIAC Championship in his last season. That championship team also had the same number of Academic All-Conference players as All-Conference players.”

“The academic success and mentorship our coaches provide, is just as important as the wins and losses on the floor,” Peters continued. “Coaches have a tremendous amount of influence on student-athletes and Chad has demonstrated that he can be a leader that helps young men to grow and develop as players, students and tomorrow's leaders.”

In his final season at Loras, he led the team to their first IIAC Championship since 1951, setting a school record for most conference wins. This was on the way to becoming the IIAC Tournament Champions as well as earning the school's first NCAA Tournament Berth in the history of the program.

In his tenure at Iowa, Walthall served as the lead assistant coach and filled in as the Hawkeyes Interim Head Coach for four games in the 2009-10 season. He also took the lead on recruiting the 20th ranked recruitment class of 2010 (as ranked by Van Coleman), which was third among Big Ten schools.

In that class, Walthall was the lead recruiter for the nation's No. 55 recruit, Larson,as well as #108, Brust and #141, McCabe. This class came one season after he was the lead recruiter for Cully Payne and Eric May, both of which were named to the 2009 All-Big Ten Freshman team.

Walthall served as an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan for two seasons before he went to Loras College. Prior to EMU, he was the assistant at St. Olaf (Minn.) for four seasons. He also coached at Redwood Valley High School for the 1993-94 season after finishing his masters degree at St. Cloud State (Minn.) where he was the graduate assistant basketball coach.

Walthall was responsible for recruiting at St. Olaf and EMU. He was also oversaw the team's academics at both of those institutions as well as at SCSU, where he was part of a program that earned an NCAA DII Tournament Bid in 1991-92.

A native of Staples, Minnesota, Walthall has an undergraduate degree in Physical Education as well as a Master of Science in Athletics Administration.

Chad will be joined in Moorhead by his wife, Jenni, and their four children (Brooke 9, twin sons Brady and Blake 7, and Beau 3).