Story Courtesy Andy Thurston, Augustana Athletics Communications
Augustana men’s basketball head coach Cody Schilling has announced the hiring of Michael Orris as an assistant coach.
A former professional basketball player and NCAA Division I student-athlete, Orris begins his duties with the program on Monday following an extremely successful campaign as the Head Coach at Schaumburg Christian School.
“We are extremely excited to add Coach Orris to our men’s basketball staff,” said Schilling. “He is a tireless worker, relentless recruiter and a big time developer of young men. His competitiveness, team first mindset and basketball IQ will make us better from day 1. I am fired up to add Michael, Taty, Micah, Malachi and baby Theo to the Augustana Men’s Basketball Family.”
In his lone season guiding the Conquerors, he inherited a team that had won just 7 games in the season prior. Through his leadership, the team won 17 games and set a program record for single season victories.
Prior to that, Orris spent the 2020-2024 seasons at NSIC foe, the University of Mary as their top assistant coach. During that time, he helped coach and develop Kam Warrens, who is currently playing in the NBA G League for the Maine Celtics.
A highly ranked prep player out of Illinois, Orris played his freshman year at Kansas State University in the Big 12 conference, winning the first ever Big 12 Conference Championship in school history, and competing in the NCAA Division I National Tournament.
He transferred closer to home to Northern Illinois University before finishing his career at South Dakota State University. In his lone season at SDSU, Orris hit the game-winning shot in the Summit League semi-finals that propelled the Jackrabbits to the 2017 Summit League tournament championship game and an eventual second trip to the NCAA Tournament.
After college Orris played briefly overseas in Iceland before coming back to the States playing two seasons in the NBA G League for the Agua Caliente Clippers (LA Clippers), the Fort Wayne Mad Ants (Indiana Pacers), and the Capital City Go-Go (Washington Wizards).
Michael is married to Taty Orris, a former volleyball standout at East Central University. The couple are parents to twin sons Micah and Malachi, along with newborn baby Theo.
