Nate Sanderson isn’t moving, but he’s moving on

MARION - Words came slowly and softly from Nate Sanderson.

'Emotionally, I'm a wreck,” he said Wednesday morning, not long after he told his girls' basketball players at Springville High School that he had taken the job at Linn-Mar.

'Visiting with the players, it was really tough. The amount of time we've invested ... I've known these kids since they were in fourth grade. It was very difficult breaking the news to them.”

Tonya Moe, associate athletics director at Linn-Mar, announced Sanderson's hiring early Wednesday morning.

'Nate has all the qualities we wanted when we began the search,” Moe said. 'He is such a good person for building relationships.

'He's a basketball junkie. He knows how to inspire kids to play with passion.”

Sanderson, 39, has spent the last seven years at Springville, where he compiled a 112-59 record. That includes a 74-7 mark the past three seasons.

In 15 seasons overall, Sanderson - who coached at Louisa-Muscatine prior to his tenure at Springville - is 181-156.

Springville won back-to-back Class 1A state championships after finishing second in 2015. Nearly the entire roster returns for 2017-18, including first-team all-staters Mikayla Nachazel and Rylee Menster, and they'll be the favorites to win it again.

'Obviously, we have some good pieces in place, both in players and coaches,” Springville AD Joe Martin said. 'Nate has been a very good character guy. He's done a great job building a culture.

'Wins are great, but the family atmosphere he created has been even more important. This is a blow, no doubt about it.”

Now, Sanderson will try to build a similar culture - share the ball, love each other - at Linn-Mar, which was 12-11 last season. The job came open earlier this spring, when Jaime Brandt was hired at Iowa City Liberty.

Moe reached out to Sanderson shortly after Brandt announced her departure.

'It's been a gradual process,” said Sanderson, whose wife is expecting the couple's second child any day. 'This is a unique opportunity. We don't have to move (from Springville).”

'The thing I am most passionate about is trying to make a difference and a positive impact. Linn-Mar presents me an opportunity to reach out and impact a lot more people.”

North Linn Coach Brian Wheatley said, 'This will be a great fit for Nate. He'll definitely be missed in the Tri-Rivers Conference, but I think it will be a good move for his career.”

Sanderson said that assistant Sarah Matus, a 2015 Springville graduate, will follow him to Linn-Mar. They plan to meet with the Lions on Monday.

Linn-Mar's top four scorers from last season - Kamryn Finley, Carly Spies, Ally Johnson and Megan Murphy - will be seniors in 2017-18.

Christina Zaruba and Tyler Husak will remain at Springville, and it's possible that either could be the successor as head coach of the Orioles.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com