DRAGON ATHLETICS
Staff
Stu Engen, Head Coach
Well-seasoned by nearly two decades of head coaching experience on the collegiate level, Stu Engen starts his sixth season as head coach at Minnesota State Moorhead fully intent on continuing his patient restoration of Dragon basketball.
Against a backdrop of a taxing regional non-conference schedule and a challenging 18-game slate in perhaps the strongest NCAA Division II league, Engen and the Dragons have quietly matured into a serious contender in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Armed with five returning starters, MSUM is eager to move into the upper echelon of the NSIC elite this winter and add another chapter to the successful ongoing rebuilding project.
Last winter the Dragons finished 13-15 overall and 8-10 in the NSIC. Engen has built a 68-73 record in five seasons at State and an overall mark of 272-181 in 17 seasons as a head coach.
Engen, 44, was appointed head coach at MSU Moorhead in June of 2002, and the Dragons debuted in style with a surprising 19-10 breakout season and advanced to the finals of the NSIC Tournament for a first time in 2002-03. MSUM made a modest run for the league’s regular season title as well and notched some memorable victories, including an 80-66 blitz of previously unbeaten North Dakota. During the 2003-04 campaign, MSU Moorhead also toppled North Dakota State University 83-72 in the last meeting between the longtime rivals.
Engen earned his 250th collegiate victory in style in 2005 with a memorable 68-57 ambush at University of North Dakota, MSUM’s first victory at UND since 1970-71.
Engen arrived at MSUM after a successful stop at University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse. He led UW-L to a 17-9 record in 2001-02, including a 10-6 mark in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. In two seasons with the Eagles, Engen fashioned a 28-24 overall record.
Engen accepted the head coaching position at Upper Iowa University in 1992 and guided the Peacocks to three Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles and seven top five finishes in eight years. He logged a 135-70 record at UIU and was saluted as IIAC Coach of the Year three times. He also led the Peacocks to a single season record 22 victories in 1995-96. During his stay, UIU twice received bids to NCAA Division III National Championships.
Engen coached two years at Western Wisconsin Technical College in LaCrosse, WI and posted a record of 41-16 with an appearance in the NJCAA Division III National Championships. He was named District XIII Coach of the Year and Conference Coach of the Year in 1991-92.
A native of Minneapolis, Engen earned a Bachelor’s Degree from Augsburg College in 1986 and a Master’s Degree from the University of South Dakota in 1990. He began his coaching career as an assistant at Augsburg from 1986-88 and spent two seasons at USD from 1988-90.
