Paul Sather has stepped down as Northern State men's basketball coach to accept the head coach position at the University of North Dakota. Sather, who led the Wolves to the NCAA Division II national championship game in 2017-18, compiled a record of 188-89 over his nine years at NSU.

Sather replaces Brian Jones who stepped down earlier this month to accept the associate head coach position at Illinois State. Jones had spent 13 seasons as UND men's basketball coach and exited with 190 wins.

"What an incredible honor to become the next men's basketball coach at the University of North Dakota," Sather said in a statement. "Growing up in Minnesota and competing as a player and coach in the Dakotas for over 20 years has made me very familiar with UND basketball and the strong history and tradition of winning championships... I can't wait to work with the players and start our pursuit of building Fighting Hawk basketball into champions again."

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Sather, a Northern State alum, entered the coaching ranks as an assistant at his alma mater under Don Meyer, then spent a year as an assistant at the University of Colorado. In 2005-06, he took over as head coach at Black Hills State, posting a record of 95-62 over five seasons.

The Princeton, Minn., native returned to Aberdeen in 2010-11, where he built the Wolves into a basketball powerhouse, boasting a record of 125-40 over the last five seasons.

Sather's career record sits at 282-151 with five national tournament appearances (three NCAA, two NAIA).

"I want to thank Northern State University for bringing me back nine years ago to lead the men's basketball program,” Sather said in a statement. “Making this decision to leave very difficult for my family and I. I would like to first thank Dr. Tim Downs, Josh Moon, and his staff for their incredible leadership and vision. Their tireless work and support gave us the resources needed to run a program in a way that gave our student-athletes a tremendous experience.”

“We want to thank Paul for the amazing job he did bringing NSU basketball back to the top of the NSIC and re-establishing it as one of the best programs in the country," NSU athletic director Josh Moon said in a statement. "He deserves this great opportunity at UND and we wish him and his wonderful family all the best moving forward.”

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In a statement, NSU said a national search for Sather's replacement will begin immediately. "This job is one of the best in country," Moon said, "and we are confident that we will be able to quickly find the next leader of Wolves basketball as we look to continue to elevate this program to even greater heights.”

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.