Denver hires MSU Moorhead's Tim Bergstraser as next men's basketball coach

Denver hired former MSU Moorhead men's basketball coach Tim Bergstraser as its next men's basketball coach, Denver athletic director Josh Berlo announced Monday.

Bergstraser coached the Dragons for the past three seasons and went 75-22. The three straight 25-win seasons marked a first in MSU Moorhead program history. The Dragons won the NSIC Tournament in all of Bergstraser's three seasons with the team. 

MSU Moorhead made the NCAA Central Region Tournament in each of the past three seasons, and reached the tournament final this season for the first time since 2014-15. The Dragons fell to Washburn University 93-65 in the championships on March 19. 

Bergstraser will now make the leap from Division II to Division I to coach the Pioneers, who went just 11-21 last season and only 5-11 in the Summit League. Bergstraser will be tasked with turning around the program like he did in Moorhead the last few years.

"At the onset of this search, we prioritized finding a proven high-character winner with head coaching experience that can be a leader for our student-athletes on and off the court with intimate knowledge of the Summit League," Berlo said. "We found exactly that in. He has succeeded at a very high level, competing for recruits and living in the Summit League's footprint."