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Thomas John Otzelberger (born September 17, 1977) is an American college basketball coach who is currently the head coach at Iowa State University.
 Otzelberger in 2013 | |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Iowa State |
| Conference | Big 12 |
| Record | 80–36 (.690) |
| Annual salary | $2.5 million |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | September 17, 1977 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1998–2001 | Wisconsin–Whitewater |
| Position(s) | Point guard |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2001–2004 | Burlington Catholic Central HS |
| 2004–2005 | Chipola College (assistant) |
| 2006–2010 | Iowa State (assistant) |
| 2010–2013 | Iowa State (associate HC) |
| 2013–2015 | Washington (assistant) |
| 2015–2016 | Iowa State (assistant) |
| 2016–2019 | South Dakota State |
| 2019–2021 | UNLV |
| 2021–present | Iowa State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 179–99 (.644) |
| Tournaments | 4–5 (NCAA Division I) 0–1 (NIT) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 2 Summit League tournament (2017, 2018) 2 Summit League regular season (2018, 2019) Big 12 tournament (2024) | |
| Awards | |
| Summit League Coach of the Year (2018) | |
Otzelberger[1] was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of Thomas L. and Jackie A. Otzelberger. He attended Thomas More High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he was a three-year starter on the varsity basketball team.[2] He played college basketball at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and was team captain for two years.[2]
On June 1, 2013, he married Alison Lacey,[1][3] former ISU women's basketball standout, former WNBA player,[4] and former coach[5] of the Marshalltown Community College women's basketball team. They have three children.
Community service
Otzelberger is openly passionate about teaching young people and was actively involved in the National Association of Basketball Coaches "Stay in to Win" program.[6] This program was set up to help students focus on making important decisions in order to become more successful in school and impact their overall quality of life. Otzelberger is also highly involved with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. He is also a member of the Villa 7 Consortium, which aims to develop the nation's top assistant coaches.
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Early coaching career
From 2001 to 2004 Otzelberger served as a basketball coach at Burlington Catholic Central High School in Burlington, Wisconsin.[7] He was promoted to varsity head coach and athletic director in 2003.[8] For the 2004-2005 season, he moved to Marianna, Florida, to join the Chipola College staff as an assistant coach.[2] In that season, the Indians finished 33-4, won the Panhandle Conference and placed third[9] at the 2005 NJCAA national tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas.
Iowa State (assistant)
Otzelberger served on the Cyclones' coaching staff for eight seasons. He initially joined the Iowa State coaching staff under former Iowa State head coach Greg McDermott in 2006,[10] and served under him as an assistant through the 2009-2010 season. When McDermott was succeeded by Fred Hoiberg in May 2010, Otzelberger was promoted to the position of associate head coach.[11][12]
In 2011-2012, Hoiberg led Iowa State to a 23-11 overall record and a third-place finish in the Big 12 Conference,[13] advancing to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2005.[14] The Cyclones defeated reigning national champion Connecticut[15] in third round tourney action, before falling to eventual national champion Kentucky. In 2012-2013, the Cyclones finished 4th in the Big 12 Conference[16] while advancing to the third round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to Ohio State on a buzzer beater.[17] During this stretch, the Cyclones were among the nation's leading teams in scoring, returning the team to national prominence.
Otzelberger has been widely regarded as one of the top recruiters in the nation. His efforts have helped secure the services of Cyclone greats Mike Taylor, Craig Brackins, Diante Garrett, Scott Christopherson, Chris Babb, Chris Allen, Will Clyburn, Korie Lucious, Melvin Ejim, Georges Niang, Naz Long, and Matt Thomas, among others. In addition to recruiting, Otzelberger was in charge of opponent scouting and game planning for the Cyclones tournament run in 2012 and 2013.
In April 2015, Otzelberger returned as an assistant coach for Iowa State after leaving Washington.
Washington
On May 7, 2013, Washington Huskies head coach Lorenzo Romar announced that Otzelberger had joined his staff as an assistant coach. NBC Sports called Coach Otzelberger's hiring at Washington as one of the top 10 key assistant coaching hires for the 2013-14 season.[18] Following the 2014 season, Jay Bilas and Jeff Goodman ranked TJ as one of the top college head coaching candidates.[19] On April 1, 2015, it was announced that Otzelberger was returning to Iowa State to replace Matt Abdelmassih.[20]
South Dakota State
On April 14, 2016, Otzelberger was named head coach of South Dakota State, replacing Scott Nagy, who left after 21 years to become the head coach at Wright State.[21] In his first season as head coach, Otzelberger led the Jackrabbits to the Summit League tournament championship and an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament, losing in the first round to eventual tournament runner-up Gonzaga. On March 6, 2018, Otzelberger led the Jackrabbits back to the NCAA Tournament, their third straight trip to the Big Dance, with a 97–87 win over the University of South Dakota.
UNLV
On March 27, 2019, the UNLV Runnin' Rebels announced Otzelberger would become their 13th head coach.[22]
On February 22, 2020, Otzelberger and the Runnin' Rebels defeated #4 San Diego State University, handing SDSU their first loss of the season.
Iowa State (head coach)
On March 18, 2021, Otzelberger was hired at Iowa State, replacing Steve Prohm who was fired after winning just two games in a COVID shortened season.[23] Otzelberger won his 100th career game on November 9, 2021, in an 84-73 victory over Kansas State. Otzelberger accomplished the nation's largest turnaround in his first year at the helm at Iowa State, winning 22 games and making the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament.[24]
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College
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Dakota State Jackrabbits (Summit League) (2016–2019) | |||||||||
| 2016–17 | South Dakota State | 18–17 | 8–8 | T–4th | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2017–18 | South Dakota State | 28–7 | 13–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2018–19 | South Dakota State | 24–9 | 14–2 | 1st | NIT First Round | ||||
| South Dakota State: | 70–33 (.680) | 35–11 (.761) | |||||||
| UNLV Runnin' Rebels (Mountain West Conference) (2019–2021) | |||||||||
| 2019–20 | UNLV | 17–15 | 12–6 | T–2nd | |||||
| 2020–21 | UNLV | 12–15 | 8–10 | 7th | |||||
| UNLV: | 29–30 (.492) | 20–16 (.556) | |||||||
| Iowa State Cyclones (Big 12 Conference) (2021–present) | |||||||||
| 2021–22 | Iowa State | 22–13 | 7–11 | T–6th | NCAA Division I Sweet 16 | ||||
| 2022–23 | Iowa State | 19–14 | 9–9 | T–5th | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2023–24 | Iowa State | 29–8 | 13–5 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Sweet 16 | ||||
| 2024–25 | Iowa State | 10–1 | 0–0 | ||||||
| Iowa State: | 80–36 (.690) | 29–25 (.537) | |||||||
| Total: | 179–99 (.644) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
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