Former D2 coach hired at UW-EC

After a national search that yielded more than 130 applications, Kyle Green has been named head coach of the UW-Eau Claire men’s basketball team, athletic director Scott Kilgallon announced today.

“We are very excited to have Coach Green lead our men’s basketball program,” Kilgallon said.  “I want to thank the search and screen committee for all of their hard work helping to identify a very strong group of finalists. Coach Green will do a great job moving our program forward and will be a great representative of UW-Eau Claire.”

Green replaces Terry Gibbons, who stepped down in March after 16 seasons. Green inherits a Blugold program that has seen only three head coaches in the last 84 years. 

Green most recently served as an assistant coach at Division I Northern Iowa for the past five seasons. He was also an assistant for the Panthers from 2001-03.

“My family and I are very excited about the opportunity to be part of UW-Eau Claire,” Green said. “Without question Eau Claire is a great community and the university is one of the top Division III institutions in the country. I want to thank chancellor Brian Levin-Stankevich, vice chancellor Beth Hellwig and director of athletics Scott Kilgallon for this opportunity. The people I met during the interview process made my decision easy.”

At UNI, Green was the Panthers' recruiting coordinator and helped build a highly successful program that competed in the Sweet Sixteen of the 2010 NCAA Championship.

Before his return to UNI in 2006, Green was the head coach at Lewis University, a Division II school in Romeoville, Ill. He also served as head coach at Division II Western State (Colo.) during the 2000-01 season and he also coached overseas for the Frederica (Denmark) Basketball Club. After guiding Frederica to a 30-3 record and a Denmark Serie title in his first season, he was named Denmark Serie Coach of the Year.

Green has also been an assistant for a number of other programs. He assisted at Marquette University during the 2003-04 season and was at Division II Augustana (S.D.) from 1997 to 2000. Prior to his time at Augustana, he assisted at Southwest Minnesota State (1995-97) and at his alma mater, Hamline, for two seasons (1993-95).

A native of Minneapolis, Green received his bachelor's degree in social studies/education from Hamline in 1992. He was a team captain and three-year starter for Hamline, earning academic all-conference honors his junior and senior seasons. Green ranks eighth in three-point field goals made for the Pipers with 85 in his career.