After 32 seasons leading the St. Olaf College men’s basketball program, head coach Dan Kosmoski announced his retirement, effective at the end of the 2025-26 academic year, ending one of the longest tenures in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) history.
Since coming to St. Olaf prior to the 1994-95 season, Kosmoski coached 799 games and led the Oles to 395 victories, making him the winningest coach in program history by over 100 games. “Coach Koz” guided St. Olaf to all four of its all-time appearances in the NCAA Tournament, all coming in a five-season stretch from 2013-14 through 2017-18, 14 MIAC Playoff appearances, its two all-time MIAC Playoff titles (2014, 2016), and the two winningest seasons in program history.
“After 32 years of coaching at St. Olaf and much thought and prayer, it is with a heavy heart that I am stepping down,” Kosmoski said. “I have been blessed to have coached and taught at St. Olaf with so many wonderful young men, on and off the court, over the past three-plus decades. We all worked hard to ‘win the next game’, but most importantly, I have been able to watch them all grow into their lives as productive citizens, husbands, fathers, and grandfathers, too. A lifetime family!”
“On behalf of our department, I want to thank Coach Koz for all he has accomplished during his time on the Hill,” said St. Olaf Athletic Director Kelly Mahlum. “His impact on Ole Athletics will not be forgotten. He has represented his program, our department, and St. Olaf College with distinction. I deeply admire the years of dedication he has shown to his players, alumni, and the athletic department. I hope he feels the appreciation and respect of so many as he moves on to his next chapter.”
The 2014 MIAC Coach of the Year and D3hoops.com West Region Coach of the Year, Kosmoski’s 32-season tenure is the joint third-longest in MIAC men’s basketball history. In 2014-15, Kosmoski’s team won a program-record 23 games and advanced to the “Sweet 16” for the deepest NCAA Tournament run in program history. That season came a year after he led the Oles to a then program-record 22-win campaign. In addition to the “Sweet 16” run, St. Olaf appeared in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2015-16 and 2017-18, while also qualifying for the national tournament in 2013-14. During his 32 seasons on the Hill, Kosmoski coached 37 All-MIAC honorees, 23 Honorable Mention All-MIAC performers, 14 MIAC All-Defensive Team choices, 13 MIAC All-Rookie Team honorees, and four D3hoops.com All-Region selections.
“I have tried to make every day meaningful,” Kosmoski added. “The one word that comes to mind is ‘joy.’ The joy of establishing a culture of family, where it is less about self and all about others. This journey is about the relationships developed with players, parents, coaches, alumni, and the many faculty/staff members at St. Olaf. St. Olaf has been forever supportive in giving me the opportunity to coach/teach and a life of no regrets!”
In addition to his coaching responsibilities at St. Olaf, Kosmoski was a 28-year faculty member, instructing a wide variety of physical activity classes over that period. He also led his team on six international trips during the summers, traveling to Greece twice, Italy three times, and Spain once. He has also been part of four tours through Athletes in Action, traveling to Spain (2003), Vilnius, Lithuania (2009) and Wukulf, Poland (2012, 2014). Kosmoski also directed numerous camps and clinics over a 40-year span, including the St. Olaf Youth Basketball Clinic (1997-01), the Coach Koz Fundamental Baseball Camps (2000-19), and the Clem Haskins Basketball Camp (1985-99), working with over 30,000 youth boys and girls in total.
“The great gift in this journey is for all my players to learn one of the most valuable lessons in life: how to work together to achieve your dream of a winning championship,” Kosmoski said. “The pursuit of excellence knowing that sometimes you never quite arrive, as John Wooden would say.”
Prior to coming to St. Olaf, Kosmoski was an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota for nine seasons (1985-86 – 1993-94) under Jim Dutcher, Jimmy Williams, and Clem Haskins. While with the Golden Gophers, Kosmoski was part of the coaching staff of teams that made the Sweet 16 (1988-89) and Elite 8 (1989-90), helping turn around a program that lost 19 Big Ten games in a row. He was also on the staff of the 1992-93 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) championship team.
Before working at the University of Minnesota, Kosmoski spent five seasons as an assistant at Golden Valley Lutheran Junior College (1978-79, 1980-84), including two years under Flip Saunders. In his five seasons on staff, the program went 116-30 and, in 1981, was the state and regional champions and participated in the national tournament.
In his playing days, Kosmoski was a standout at Owatonna High School, earning all-state honors in football, basketball and track & field, and was inducted into the Owatonna High School Hall of Fame in 1998. He went on to play at the University of Minnesota, where he played alongside lottery picks Mychal Thompson, Kevin McHale and Flip Saunders and was on the 1976-77 team that finished 24-3.
“The only word that comes to mind is gratitude,” Kosmoski said. “I am grateful for the faith my Lord Jesus Christ has given me! I am grateful to have coached for three decades in the MIAC and at such a great educational institution. I am grateful for the players and the challenges they bring daily. I am grateful for my dedicated and caring coaching staff over the many years. I am grateful to my wife, Ellen, for her patience, love, and support. Most importantly, I am grateful for the everyday challenges that come with coaching a game that instills all the values and disciplines learned along the way that will last a lifetime. Thank you!”
D3 NEWS: Kosmoski announces retirement as Head Basketball Coach at St. Olaf
