Shane Murphy
Shane Murphy
Head Men’s Basketball Coach
The University of South Dakota ’94
The University of South Dakota ’96
shmurphy@dwu.edu
605-995-2875
The 2010-11 season was one of transition for the Dakota Wesleyan University men’s basketball team with a new head coach, but Shane Murphy made sure that transition was a seamless one. The Tigers ended Murphy’s first season at the helm in the same spot they had the past four seasons – at the NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championships in Point Lookout, Mo.
Murphy, who enters his second season with the Tigers in 2011-12, took over the men’s basketball program after its most successful season in history, and he was able to continue that success. Dakota Wesleyan finished the year 24-9 and ranked No. 18 in the NAIA Division II. It finished third in the Great Plains Athletic Conference and made its fifth straight trip to the national tournament, where it upset No. 15 Grace College and advanced to the Sweet 16 before falling to second-seeded Northwood College.
The Tigers beat four top-10 opponents in 2010-11. They beat No. 6 Black Hills State University in overtime in early November, and ended the season with upsets of No. 8 Briar Cliff and No. 10 Northwestern College. All three wins were at the World’s Only Corn Palace. DWU also beat undefeated Xavier University (La.), which was ranked No. 9 in the NAIA Division I, at a holiday tournament in Miami, Fla.
Senior Brady Wiebe finished his four-year career as one of the most decorated athletes in DWU men’s basketball history. He became the fourth player in DWU men’s basketball history to score more than 2,000 career points, and finished his career with 2,052 points and 1,097 rebounds. He became the second three-time All-American in men’s basketball history when he earned All-American First-Team honors. He was also named the GPAC’s Player-of-the-Year and earned All-GPAC First-Team honors. Wiebe also graduates with the school record for free-throw accuracy (100 percent, 17-17) in a game, free throws in a season (285) and free throws in a career (767).
Wiebe was also named to the Capital One Academic All-District Team, and he, along with Mark Mingo and Mitch Reed, earned NAIA Scholar-Athlete honors. Seniors Chase Walder and Larry Swann were both named to the All-GPAC Second Team. Walder became the 49th player in Tiger men’s basketball history to reach the 1,000-point milestone, and he finished his career with 1,254 points. He also set the record for 3-pointers in a career with 249.
Wiebe, who led the GPAC in both scoring and rebounding throughout much of the season, and Swann each earned one GPAC Player-of-the-Week honor in their senior seasons, and Walder earned the honor twice. The first came when he hit the game-winning 3-point shot against Morningside for a win in Sioux City, Iowa, and the second came when he hit a half-court, last-second shot to lift DWU to an upset win against No. 10 Northwestern at the Corn Palace.
Murphy took a two-year hiatus from coaching to work as a recruiter for the Principal Financial Group in Sioux Falls, S.D., but before that, he led the University of Sioux Falls men’s basketball program to the most successful stretch in school history.
Murphy was named the 2006 GPAC Coach-of-the-Year and the 2002 South Dakota Men’s College Coach-of-the-Year. He led the Cougars to two conference titles and two GPAC Tournament titles in seven years of coaching. Between 2001 and 2008, Murphy led his squads to the most wins in school history (154) with a .662 winning percentage and a single-season record of 28 wins in a season. The Cougars were a constant on the NAIA Top 25 Coaches’ Poll, and they were ranked No. 1 at one point in 2007. Murphy coached USF to four NAIA Division II National Tournaments in six seasons, including a trip to the Final Four in 2004. At USF, he recruited and coached five All-Americans and 11 All-GPAC players.
Before coaching at USF, Murphy played and coached at the University of South Dakota, his alma mater. He was an assistant coach for the Coyotes from 1995-2001, and he helped USD to North Central Conference titles in 1999, 2000 and 2001, and NCAA Division II National Tournament appearances in 1999 and 2000. He was also a graduate assistant at USD from 1994-95.
Murphy started his collegiate playing career at Drake University and transferred to USD after two seasons. He led the Coyotes to two conference and regional titles and was an All-Conference, All-Region and All-America Honorable Mention selection in 1994. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration with an emphasis in finance and human relations from USD in 1994, and he completed his Master of Business Administration in 1996, also at USD.
Murphy and his wife, Jill, live in Mitchell with their daughters, Allison, 15; and Emma, 11.
Josh Mueller
Josh Mueller
Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach
The University of South Dakota ’05
jomueller@dwu.edu
Josh Mueller begins his second season as the assistant coach for the Dakota Wesleyan University men’s basketball program in 2011-12. This is Mueller’s first coaching stint, but he has a wealth of basketball experience under his belt and has been a valuable addition to the Tiger coaching staff.
Most recently, Mueller played professional basketball in Finland, Holland and Germany. He also spent time in the 2nd Bundesliga in Germany. He played in Germany for three years and spent one year each in Finland and Holland. Before playing overseas, he played for the Sioux Falls Skyforce, an NBA Development League team in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Mueller played college basketball at the University of South Dakota, and he graduated as the career leader in assists (801), steals (256) and 3-point field goals (308). He is second on the all-time scoring list (1,994). Mueller was a part of the 2005 North Central Conference Tournament Championship team which won a school-record 27 games. He was a two-time Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year finalist, which includes the top 16 guards in the nation. He was also a three-time selection to the NCC All-Conference Team.
In high school, Mueller was a part of a West Central squad that won back-to-back state titles at the South Dakota Class “A” State Tournament in 2000 and 2001. He also led his team to a runner-up finish in 1999. He is third all-time in points scored in South Dakota with 2,563, and he holds the state tournament record for most points with 147 in three games.
Mueller lives in Mitchell and is pursuing a master’s degree in education at Dakota Wesleyan.
Zander Tasch
Zander Tasch
Graduate Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach
College of Charleston ’06
zatasch@dwu.edu
Zander Tasch enters his second season as the DWU men’s basketball graduate assistant in 2011-12. Tasch started with the Tigers in the 2010-11 season, and he helped Dakota Wesleyan to a 24-9 overall record and a Sweet 16 appearance in the NAIA National Championships in Point Lookout, Mo.
At Dakota Wesleyan, Tasch serves as a recruiting coordinator for the men’s basketball program and helps with film exchange, scouting reports, film breakdown and monitoring the academic progress of the Tiger basketball players.
Before coming to Dakota Wesleyan, Tasch, a Nantucket, Mass., native, worked the 2009-10 season in basketball operations at Long Island University – C.W. Post, an NCAA Division II school. In that season, the team won the regular-season East Coast Conference title and went 23-6.
Tasch graduated from the College of Charleston in 2006 with a degree in mass media communications. In addition to his work with college teams, he has also worked two summers at the LeBron James Kings Academy and Wootten Basketball Camps. He helped for one season at the Jim Calhoun Camp at the University of Connecticut, Providence College Basketball Camp, the Paul Pierce Camp and the Celtics Youth Camps.
At Dakota Wesleyan, Tasch is pursuing a master’s degree in educational policy and administration.
