Dan Engelstad has been named head coach of the Mount St. Mary’s University men’s basketball program, as announced today by Mount St. Mary’s Director of Athletics Lynne Robinson.
Engelstad will be introduced as the 22nd head coach in program history at a press conference tomorrow (May 10) at 10 a.m. in the Cardinal Keeler Dining Room.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dan Engelstad home to Mount St. Mary’s,” said President Timothy E. Trainor, Ph.D. “Dan is a proven, accomplished head coach with a passion for and commitment to the Mount, gained from his three years as an assistant coach here. Dan’s integrity and engaging, energetic personality are well known to the Mount community. I am confident that he will do a remarkable job in taking the Mount to even higher levels of success in men’s basketball.”
“We are elated to name Dan Engelstad as the next head men’s basketball coach at Mount St. Mary’s University,” said Robinson. “Dan’s passion for the development of student-athletes, his positive and high-energy work ethic, along with his successful coaching experience, perfectly position him to guide our men’s basketball program. I am confident that our men’s basketball program will continue to thrive under Dan’s leadership. We are very happy to welcome Dan, his wife Camille, and daughter Laney to the Mount community!”
Engelstad, a former assistant coach at the Mount under Milan Brown, spent the last five seasons at the helm of Southern Vermont College (SVC) in Bennington, Vermont, where he led a remarkable turnaround and helped carry the program to new heights. The Bethesda, Maryland native posted a 104-34 (.754) career record at SVC, was named the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Coach of the Year three times, and helped guide the program to a pair of NECC Championships, including the school’s first-ever title in 2016.
Engelstad took over at Southern Vermont following a 1-24 season, and guided SVC to one of the top turnarounds in the country in 2013-14. The Mountaineers, who finished the campaign at 16-10 overall, opened the season with a victory over nationally-ranked Williams College, and went on to win the Tri-State Tournament and finish fourth in the NECC, as they earned their first playoff berth since 2011.
The following year, Engelstad led the Mountaineers to an historic season as they finished with the best record in program history at 25-4 overall, and went a perfect 16-0 in NECC play. Engelstad earned his first of three NECC Coach of the Year Awards that season after guiding Southern Vermont to a regular season title and an appearance in the conference championship game. Although the Mountaineers lost in the NECC Championship game, they were invited to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England Tournament as the No. 1 seed, where they defeated Anna Maria and Fitchburg State to capture the school’s first-ever ECAC Championship in any sport. In addition to Engelstad earning coach of the year honors, he also saw his players collect the NECC Player of the Year (DeShawn Hamlet) and Rookie of the Year (Daemond Carter) Awards.
In 2015-16, Engelstad’s Mountaineers went 24-4 on the year and recorded their second straight undefeated record in conference play at 16-0, earning Engelstad Coach of the Year honors once again. Entering the conference tournament as the top-seed, SVC rolled past Regis College and Becker College to earn its first-ever NECC Championship and second berth to the Division III NCAA Tournament, where the Mountaineers were eventually edged by Tufts. Engelstad became the program’s all-time winningest coach during the season with a victory over Elms College on February 18.
During the 2016-17 campaign, SVC received weekly recognition in the NCAA Division III Northeast regional rankings and received votes for the national top-25 poll. Engelstad led the Mountaineers to their third consecutive Tri-State Shootout Tournament Championship during the regular season, and helped SVC reach the NECC Title game for the third straight season as well.
This past season, Engelstad guided the Mountaineers to another 20-plus win season as they earned the No. 1 seed in the NECC Tournament for the fourth consecutive year. In the conference tournament, they topped Lesley College and Becker to capture the second NECC Title in program history, and Engelstad earned Coach of the Year honors for his third time in five seasons. In addition to his own personal honors, his players won two major awards as Mike Pierre was tabbed the NECC Player of the Year and Daemond Carter earned NECC Defensive Player of the Year honors.
Prior to his time at Southern Vermont, Engelstad served as an assistant coach for three years (2010-13) at Holy Cross, where he was the defensive coordinator and played a vital role in recruiting and scouting. While at Holy Cross, he recruited and assisted in the development of current Toronto Raptor Malcolm Miller.
Engelstad started his career as an assistant coach at Mount St. Mary’s from 2007-10 under Brown. He helped guide the Mount to a 2008 Northeast Conference Championship, which was the third title in program history. The Mountaineers went on to record their first-ever NCAA Division I Tournament win with a victory over Coppin State in the opening round.
Outside of the collegiate realm, Engelstad was a head coach in The Basketball Tournament, commonly known as TBT, which is a 5-on-5, winner take all tournament composed of professional players, some of whom have previously played in the NBA, at major Division I colleges, and on professional international teams.
Engelstad is also the director and founder of the Fast Break Basketball Camp in Bethesda, Maryland, and coached the Walt Whitman Varsity Summer League team in 2005 and 2006. In the summer of 2006, Engelstad served as an intern in the Washington Wizards front office, where he worked for President of Basketball Operations, Ernie Grunfeld.
Engelstad is a 2007 graduate of St. Mary’s College (Maryland) with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He served as a team captain (2004-07) for the Seahawks and graduated as the school’s all-time leader with 419 career assists.
Engelstad is married to the former Camille Trainor, and the two welcomed their daughter, Laney Anne-Maria, to the world in June of 2017.
http://www.mountathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2017-18/releases/20180509io2on2
