Brad Bigler

Brad Bigler is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach of the Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs.^[1]

Brad Bigler

Current position
Title	Head Coach
Team	Southwest Minnesota State
Conference	NSIC
Record	260–197
Playing career
1997–2002	SMSU
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2002–03	Lakeview High (women's)
2003–05	SMSU (GA)
2005–09	SMSU (assistant)
2009–present	SMSU
Head coaching record
Overall	260–197
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
2 NSIC tournament (2012, 2017) NSIC regular season (2025) 2 NSIC South Division (2017, 2018)
Awards
2x NSIC Coach of the Year (2013, 2017)

Bigler is a native of Fort Madison, Iowa. From 1997 to 2002, he was a member of the Southwest Minnesota State basketball team. He finished with 286 career assists, which is currently the seventh most in school history. He also helped the Mustangs accumulate a record of 83-36 and win the North Central Region championship in 2001.

After his playing days were done, Bigler began his coaching career as the head women's basketball coach at Lakeview High School in Cottonwood, Minnesota. He coached there for one year.^[2]

In 2003, he went back to Southwest Minnesota State as a graduate assistant. In 2005, he was hired as a full time assistant. During his years an assistant, the Mustangs won a NSIC conference championship and an NCAA regional championship.

In 2009, Bigler was hired as the head coach of Southwest Minnesota State. In his first season, the Mustangs went 17-12 (10-10 conference) and finished 6th in the conference. In 2012, they won the NSIC tournament for the first time in school history.^[3] In 2017, the Mustangs won their second ever NSIC Tournament championship^[4] advanced to the regional championship game before losing to eventual national champion Northwest Missouri State. During the 2016–17 and 2017–18 seasons, the Mustangs won back-to-back NSIC South Division championships.

Head Coaching Record

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Southwest Minnesota State (NSIC) (2009–present)
2009–10	SMSU	17–12	10–10	6th
2010–11	SMSU	12–14	9–13	8th
2011–12	SMSU	19–11	15–7	2nd	NCAA DII first round
2012–13	SMSU	16–14	13–9	7th
2013–14	SMSU	19–12	14–8	6th
2014–15	SMSU	12–17	8–14	11th
2015–16	SMSU	13–15	9–13	13th
2016–17	SMSU	28–6	17–5	2nd	NCAA DII Regional final
2017–18	SMSU	25–9	17–5	2nd	NCAA DII Regional semifinal
2018–19	SMSU	18–14	10–12	9th
2019–20	SMSU	8–21	5–17	15th
2020–21	SMSU	3–8	1–6	14th
2021–22	SMSU	14–11	10–10	T-8th
2022–23	SMSU	16–12	12–10	8th
2023–24	SMSU	19–13	14–8	T-5th	NCAA DII first round
2024–25	SMSU	21–8	16–6	T-1st
Southwest Minnesota State:		260–197 (.569)	181–153 (.542)
Total:		260–197 (.569)
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion