Mar. 27—ABERDEEN, S.D. — Former Dakota Wesleyan men’s basketball coach Matt Wilber will grace a new sideline in 2025.
Wilber was hired as the next head coach of Northern State University men’s basketball, the university announced on Thursday, becoming the 23rd head coach in the history of the program and only the seventh person since the 1945-46 season to lead the Wolves.
“This is an emotional full circle moment for me growing up a fan of Northern basketball, watching and cheering on the Wolves in Wachs Arena as a kid,” Wilber said in a release. “I am excited to get to work right away and to begin to connect with the campus and Aberdeen communities, and our fans and alumni.”
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Prior to joining the Wolvers, Wilber led DWU from 2013 until 2024, going 224-125 in 11 years. Under his tenure, the Tigers recorded six 20-win seasons and posted a runner-up finish in the NAIA national tournament in 2015, also winning the Great Plains Athletic Conference coach of the year award and the NAIA national coach of the year the same season.
He previously served as a graduate assistant and later assistant coach for the men’s basketball program at Augustana University, where he played from 1997 until 2002. Wilber also made stops at the University of Sioux Falls and South Dakota State University as an assistant.
Wilber also owned and directed TIBBS basketball alongside former Sioux Falls assistant coach and current head coach of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury Nate Tibbetts, a basketball development program held in the Sioux Falls area, from 2006 until 2013. Wilber was most recently an assistant coach under Tibbetts with the Mercury in 2024.
Last season, Northern State finished with a 2-26 record, including a 1-21 mark in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play.
