After five years on the bench for the Jackrabbits, South Dakota State assistant men’s basketball coach Austin Hansen resigned his position at SDSU to accept an assistant coaching position the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo.

“I appreciate the opportunity coach Nagy and South Dakota State gave me to be a part of this program for five years,” Hansen said of his time at SDSU. “I’m very grateful to have coached a tremendous group of guys that have worked hard to achieve a very high level of success for SDSU basketball. The efforts of these guys have provided me with this new opportunity, and I couldn’t be more thankful to them. I wish them nothing but the best for continued success.”

A 2003 graduate of South Dakota State, Hansen joined the Jackrabbits as an assistant coach in 2008 after five years as an assistant at Minnesota State, Mankato. In his five years at SDSU, he helped turn the program into a perennial contender in The Summit League and helped lead the Jacks to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2012 and 2013.

“I can’t express enough how much I appreciate Austin and the job he did for us,” head coach Scott Nagy said. “If you track the progression of our team since he came here, you can easily see how important he has been to our program. It’s very difficult for me to let him go, but I know he wants to stretch his boundaries, so I wish him nothing but the best. He is a tremendous coach and has a great future.”

SDSU plans to begin an immediate national search for Hansen’s replacement.

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