Coaches

Jason Christensen

Jason Christensen

Head Women’s Basketball Coach
Dakota Wesleyan University ’98
Emporia State University ’04
jachrist@dwu.edu
605-995-2175

Jason Christensen took over a young program in 2010 when he became the head coach of the Dakota Wesleyan University women’s basketball team, and in 2011-12 he hopes to take the experience those young players gained and turn it into wins.

Christensen begins his second season with the Tigers in 2011 and is looking to build on the youth and help Dakota Wesleyan become a top contender in the Great Plains Athletic Conference, which features some of the top women’s basketball teams in the NAIA.

Dakota Wesleyan, which finished 6-25 overall and 2-16 in the GPAC in 2010-11, featured just two seniors, two juniors, four sophomores and eight true freshmen.  Junior Brittany Pritchard, who transferred to DWU from Dana College after its doors closed in 2010, earned All-GPAC Second-Team honors and led the team in scoring with an average of 12.8 points per game.  She also averaged 8.1 rebounds per game and quickly emerged as a go-to player on such a young squad.

Freshman Amanda Hart earned All-GPAC Honorable Mention accolades.  She averaged 9.5 points per game and had 83 made 3-point shots, which ranked No. 10 in the NAIA Division II. She was also 13th in 3-pointers per game (2.67).  Kenzie Dvoracek and Hannah Downing – the team’s lone seniors – earned NAIA Scholar-Athlete honors.

As a team, the Tigers set a school record for points in a game when they beat Concordia University 103-97 in overtime on Jan. 16 at the World’s Only Corn Palace.  The Tigers’ second GPAC win of the season was an 82-80 victory against Midland University.  DWU also beat York College twice, Dakota State University and Brewton Parker College at a holiday tournament in Lake Wales, Fla.

DWU played several close games with top opponents.  The Tigers led the University of Sioux Falls, which was ranked in the top five in the NAIA at the time, at halftime of their game Feb. 2 in Sioux Falls, S.D., before falling 69-60.  Dakota Wesleyan also played a close game with nationally ranked Mount Marty College before losing a 55-53 decision.

Christensen brings a wealth of basketball coaching experience, as well as knowledge of the area, with him to the Tiger program.  This is Christensen’s first collegiate coaching experience, but he has 11 very successful years of high school coaching under his belt.  For nine seasons, he coached the Mount Vernon High School girls’ basketball team.  In those nine seasons, his teams went 173-29 (.856) with six conference titles, five district championships and four region titles.

In 2004 and 2005, Christensen led the Fillies to back-to-back Class “B” state titles with a 49-0 record.  Mount Vernon also took second- and third-place finishes in two other trips to state.  Christensen was nominated for the South Dakota Girls’ Coach-of-the-Year award four times and won the honor in 2004.  He also coached the South Dakota/Nebraska All-Star Game.

Most recently, Christensen spent two seasons turning the Wagner High School boys’ basketball team into a state-title contender.  Before his tenure with the Red Raiders, the team won 10 games in three seasons.  In Christensen’s two seasons, the team went 34-8 (.809), won two conference titles and also achieved a top-five ranking in the South Dakota Sportswriters’ Association Boys’ Basketball Poll.

Christensen has also had the opportunity to coach at camps in South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa, and he has organized individual camps in Mount Vernon and Wagner.  He has also helped organize several basketball camps at Mitchell High School.

Christensen grew up in Mitchell and played high school basketball for the Kernels before graduating from Dakota Wesleyan in 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in elementary education.  He received a master’s degree in physical education, health and recreation from Emporia State University in Emporia, Kan., in 2004.

Christensen and his wife, Michelle, live in Mitchell, with their two children, Kaitlyn and Tyler.

Jory Hansen

Jory Hansen

Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach
Dakota Wesleyan University ’07
Dakota Wesleyan University ’09
johansen@dwu.edu
605-995-2960

Jory Hansen is entering his fifth season as an assistant women’s basketball coach at Dakota Wesleyan University.  Hansen’s coaching focus is on the defensive end of the floor, where he teaches and calls Tigers’ defensive sets.  He also plays a big role in scouting, recruiting and player development.

Over his first two seasons, Hansen served as a graduate assistant coach.  Hansen also works as a Dakota Wesleyan admissions counselor, where he serves as the admissions’ liaison to the athletic department in addition to his assistant coaching duties.

During his tenure at Dakota Wesleyan, Hansen has coaching experience with both the men’s and women’s basketball teams.  He spent his first two years in coaching as an assistant with the Tiger men’s basketball team, and just before the 2007-08 season began, he switched over to the women’s team.  He also played for the men’s basketball team for two years.

A native of Lakefield, Minn., Hansen earned his bachelor’s degree in athletic training from Dakota Wesleyan in 2007, and he received his Master of Arts degree in higher education policy and administration in 2009.

He currently lives in Mitchell.

Danielle Foley

Danielle Foley

Graduate Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach
Azusa Pacific University ’07
University of Phoenix ’11
dafoley@dwu.edu

Danielle Foley begins her first year as a graduate assistant coach for the Dakota Wesleyan women’s basketball team in 2011-12.

Foley played college basketball for four seasons at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, Calif., where she graduated in 2007 with a degree in biblical studies. She helped her team to a 96-41 record in her four seasons, and she was also part of a team that made the NAIA National Tournament in each of her four seasons and was ranked in the top 10 in her senior year (2006-07).

Foley graduated with her master’s degree in secondary education from the University of Phoenix in 2011. Last winter, she coached the junior varsity girls’ basketball team at Seminole Ridge High School in Loxahatchee, Fla.

The West Palm Beach, Fla., native is pursuing her master’s degree in educational policy and administration at Dakota Wesleyan.

Derrick Dunn

Derrick Dunn

Women’s Basketball Student Coach

Derrick Dunn enters his first season as a student coach for the Dakota Wesleyan women’s basketball team in 2011-12.

Dunn, a Sioux Falls, S.D., native, graduated from Sioux Falls Roosevelt High School, where he played football and basketball. He earned All-Conference and All-City honors in football and helped the Rough Riders to two Class “11AA” state titles.

Dunn is a junior at Dakota Wesleyan. He is majoring in business and has a coaching minor.