Head coach Dan Kosmoski and the St. Olaf College men’s basketball program announced the hiring of Matt Eppen as an assistant coach on Friday.

Eppen returns to the Hill after serving on the men’s basketball staff during the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons. As an assistant, he recruited several players who went on to be part of the St. Olaf teams that won Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) titles and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

A Gustavus Adolphus College graduate, Eppen played baseball for the Gusties while studying social studies education. His first teaching job was at New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva (NRHEG) school district, where he taught from 1996-2007 and was an assistant boys basketball coach from 1996-98 under Hall of Fame coach Ted Pelzl.

Eppen served as the head boys basketball coach at NRHEG from 1998-2007 at NRHEG and consistently coached teams that competed for conference and section titles. In 2007-08, he served as the assistant girls basketball coach at Burnsville before joining Kosmoski’s staff at St. Olaf for two seasons. He later transitioned to being the Burnsville head boys basketball coach from 2010-18.

He spent 2018 as an assistant coach for the boys program at Eden Prairie, helping lead the Eagles to a consolation championship at the state tournament.

Eppen continues teaching at Burnsville High School and resides in Rosemount with his wife, Amy, and daughters Avery and Natalie.