Utah State head women’s basketball coach Jerry Finkbeiner announced Thursday that Ben Finkbeiner will be joining the Aggie coaching staff as assistant coach.
Finkbeiner will be replacing former assistant coach Stu Sells, who left to pursue other opportunities. Finkbeiner, the son of head coach Jerry Finkbeiner, comes to Utah State after three years as an assistant coach at Boise State. Finkbeiner’s primary responsibilities were to serve as recruiting coordinator, as well as focusing on the defensive side of the ball.
"He is a coach that I trust. It will be a lot of fun on the sidelines. His wife (Alycia) played for me at Oral Roberts; he was a student assistant coach a few years ago. He knows our game plan, obviously. I have joked with people that we have a better chance of beating Boise State because he is not on their bench, knowing our game plan," said Jerry Finkbeiner. "He comes in here with a very good recruiting background. He is known for that, and he is a good defensive coach. Those are the two areas that he will step right in and be given a lot of responsibility to fulfill."
This year was his eighth season as a collegiate coach. In three years with the Broncos, he coached several Boise State to Mountain West postseason honors. In addition, seven players earned Mountain West All-Academic Team recognition. This season, the Broncos advanced to the quarterfinals of the Women’s Basketball Invitational.
"This is a good opportunity for my family and me to come work with my father, with whom I have close ideas about basketball. It is also a good chance to help out on the defensive side of the basketball and with recruiting. Having been the recruiting coordinator at Boise State, I know what it takes to win on this level in the Mountain West. Boise State also came into the Mountain West from the WAC, so I know what it is like to go through that transition and recruit a different type of player," Ben Finkbeiner said.
Prior to Boise State, the younger Finkbeiner spent three seasons as an assistant coach at New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs, N.M. He served in several capacities, including the recruiting coordinator, guard position coach, defense coach, strength and conditioning coach and assisted with scouting. In his last season (2010-11) at NMJC the team recorded a 20-win season going 20-10 and 6-6 in league. In 2009-10, Finkbeiner helped guide the team to the program’s first postseason appearance in eight years, finishing third in the conference with a 16-14 overall mark. During Finkbeiner’s first season in 2008-09, the Lady T-Birds had a 17-win campaign, an improvement of 14 wins over the previous year. In his final two seasons at NMJC, he coached five Lady T-Birds to all-conference honors, two to all-conference honorable mention and one player to NJCAA All-Region 5 honors.
Prior to New Mexico Junior College, Finkbeiner spent two seasons as a graduate assistant coach for the University of Central Oklahoma’s men’s basketball team in Edmond, Okla. The Bronchos ended the 2007-2008 season with a 28-6 record, reaching the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.
Before UCO, Finkbeiner served as the director of basketball operations for the Oral Roberts University women’s basketball team in Tulsa, Okla., where Jerry Finkbeiner was the head coach. He assisted the program in winning the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament, as well as earning a berth into the NCAA Tournament.
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