Usually, I have to dig for this stuff. St. Cloud State made it easy – they have published their three finalists for the vacant men’s basketball position. Here’s the release from SCSU:
St. Cloud State University Director of Athletics Heather Weems has narrowed down the search for the next men’s basketball head coach to three finalists, as announced on Monday. Included as part of the selection process, each of the three finalists will participate in a 30-minute open forum with the community over the next week. The open forum will be held in the Husky Den of the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center at the times listed below.
- Quincy Henderson – Tuesday, May 3 – 2:45 PM
- Brett Putz – Thursday, May 5 – 3:30 PM
- Keven Bradley – Monday, May 9 – 12:15 PM
Quincy Henderson
A two-time NCAA Division-II national champion and three-time NCAA tournament finalist as a player with Winona State, Quincy Henderson has made his mark in the coaching world at West Texas A&M over the past eight seasons. Henderson has helped lead the Buffaloes to a 210-50 record, three conference titles, five conference tournament titles and six NCAA Tournament appearances during his time in Canyon. West Texas A&M has made the NCAA Tournament each of the past six seasons with Henderson on the bench, and has advanced to the Elite Eight three times, including an NCAA finalist appearance in 2021. During the Buffaloes impressive run over the past six seasons, West Texas A&M has won five consecutive Lone Star Conference Tournament titles and has earned the No. 1 seed in the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament four times.
Prior to his time at West Texas A&M, Henderson was a graduate assistant at Illinois Wesleyan (2012-14), an assistant coach at Lafollette High School in Madison, Wis., (2011-12) and the U18 head coach at Kilsyth Basketball in Victoria, Australia (2011). While at Illinois Wesleyan, Henderson helped the team win two conference titles and advance to the NCAA D-III Final Four in 2014.
As a player, Henderson played three seasons for Winona State (2005-08), as the Warriors advanced to the NCAA National Championship game each season, winning NCAA titles in 2006 and 2008. Winona State set the NCAA Division-II record for most consecutive wins (57) and wins in a season (38) with Henderson on the court. Following his collegiate playing days, Henderson played professionally for Kilsyth Basketball for three seasons (2009-11), earning defensive player of the year honors twice.
Brett Putz
Brett Putz, a St. Cloud State alum and 2010 NCAA Final Four participant, has coaching experience at nearly every level of basketball and just finished his second season as head coach of Des Moines Area Community College. Putz has had much success in his first two seasons in Des Moines, leading the Bears to a 2021 NJCAA Division II National Championship title, a third-place national finish in 2022, and a pair of conference titles. His teams have been two-way juggernauts in both seasons under Putz, ranking top-10 nationally in both three-point percentage, free throws made and defensive field goal percentage both seasons. Individually, eight athletes have earned all-conference honors and two have been named NJCAA Division-II All-Americans.
Prior to his time in Des Moines, Putz spent four seasons in Division-I basketball at Chicago State (2018-2020) and Nebraska Omaha (2016-18). With the Cougars, Putz served as an assistant coach and was the team’s recruiting and academic coordinator in addition to his on-court duties. With the Mavericks, Putz was the team’s director of operations and coordinated all team travel, budgets, itineraries, hotels and meals.
Before moving to Division-I, Putz spent three seasons at Wayne State (2013-16) as an assistant coach, spearheading the team’s recruiting and academic efforts. In Wayne, he recruited six academic all-conference selections, four 1,000-point scorers, three all-conference selections and one defensive player of the year.
Putz was a four-year letterwinner for the Huskies from 2008-12 and a was named team captain for his senior campaign. He played in all 35 games and started 17 of St. Cloud State’s 2010 NCAA Division II Final Four campaign, its only appearance in program history, averaging 10.0 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game while shooting an impressive 41.4 percent from the three-point line. His name is still etched all over the SCSU record book, rankings second in games played (124), fourth in three-pointers made (245), 10th in steals and 21stin scoring (1,315). Following his playing career, Putz spent the 2012-13 season as an assistant coach for the Huskies.
Keven Bradley
Keven Bradley brings more than a decade’s worth of experience coaching Division-II basketball at numerous institutions over his career. In his two seasons in his current role, associate head coach at Hillsdale College (2020-present), Bradley has helped guide the Chargers to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances, a conference championship and a regional championship. With Bradley on the bench, Hillsdale captured the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Regular Season Championship, earned the top-seed in the Midwest Regional and advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2020-21. This past season (2021-22), the Chargers once again were selected for the NCAA Midwest Regional and made an NCAA Elite Eight appearance for the first time in the program’s history.
Prior to Hillsdale, Bradley made stops at Wisconsin Parkside (2013-2020), Upper Iowa (2007-13) and Lawrence (D-III, 2006-07). Parkside produced a record of 131-74 with Bradley on the bench as an assistant coach (2013-14) and associate head coach (2014-20), winning four Great Lakes Intercollegiate Conference regular season titles and earning four trips to the NCAA Midwest Regional Tournament. Bradley spent six seasons at fellow NSIC member Upper Iowa, where he was a graduate assistant and assistant coach, helping the Peacocks earn a berth in the NCAA Central Regional Tournament in 2012-13.
Bradley earned his Bachelor of Arts from Lawrence in 2006 and spent his first-year post-college on the bench for his alma mater (2006-07).
