COACHING STAFF

Casey Kasperbauer | Assistant Coach

Casey Kasperbauer was promoted to assistant coach in July of 2020 after spending the previous two seasons as the director of operations. Kasperbauer is a 1,000-point scorer for the Coyotes and a 2016 graduate of USD. Kasperbauer enters his second year as an assistant coach in the 2021-22 season.

In his first season as an assistant coach, Kasperbauer help guide a trio of Coyotes to all-Summit League honors in Stanley Umude (1st) A.J. Plitzuweit (1st) and Xavier Fuller (HM). He helped coach A.J. Plitzuweit to earn the Newcomer of the Year honor as well as a spot on the all-Newcomer team. He aslo helped the Coyotes start conference play 9-0 for the first time since the 1992-93 season and reeled off 10 straight wins for its longest streak since the 2009-10 campaign. South Dakota knocked off South Dakota State in Frost Arena for the first time since the 1999-00 season, snapping SDSU's 32 game conference home win streak.

In 2020-21, South Dakota was one of two schools in the nation to have two different players (Plitzuweit & Umude) score 37 points or more in a Division I game in 2020-21.

Kasperbauer spent 2017-18 as a skills coach for Pure Sweat Basketball in Des Moines, Iowa. He directed camps and academies, developing workouts based on skill level.

Following his graduation from South Dakota, Kasperbauer signed a contract to play professionally for the BC Rustavi basketball team in the Republic of Georgia. He averaged 13.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists over 28 regular season games, helping BC Rustavi to the playoffs.

Kasperbauer spent the summer of 2016 as a marketing intern and skills coach at the Sanford Pentagon. He coached large and small groups in basketball skills and helped develop and design the Sanford Pentagon website.

As a guard with the Coyotes, Kasperbauer tallied 1,163 points over his four-year career. His senior campaign, he scored 12.1 points per game and was the leading scorer in the 85-81 victory over Minnesota with 17 points. For his career, he is the top free-throw shooter in USD history, sinking 90.8 percent of his attempts from the charity stripe. He also has the top percentage for a season, sinking 94.5 percent of his free throws in the 2015-16 season.

He graduated with a bachelor of science in sport management with minors in coaching and business.

Patrick Eberhart | Assistant Coach

Patrick Eberhart joined the staff on April 13, 2022 after 11 seasons in Omaha and nearly 30 years of coaching experience.

Born in Anchorage, Alaska, Eberhart spent his time in Omaha as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Mavericks. While at Omaha, Eberhart aided in the recruitment of eight all-league selections, three all-newcomer team honorees, the 2015-16 Summit League Transfer of the Year in Tra-Deon Hollins, three Summit League defensive players of the year, and the 2019-20 Sixth Man of the Year in Marlon Ruffin. He has also had three consecutive academic all-Americans from 2019-21. Eberhart was the primary recruiter for five of UNO’s 1,000-point club scorers and had 13 players sign professional contracts. Eberhart’s duties at Omaha included developing and implementing individual player workouts, providing individual skill instruction, managing substitutions, and preparing written and verbal scouting reports on opponents.

Prior to his stint at Omaha, Eberhart was the head men’s basketball coach for Colorado State University-Pueblo from 2005-2011. Eberhart rejoined CSU-Pueblo after serving as an assistant coach there from 1997-2001 under previously named University of Southern Colorado. The ThunderWolves compiled a 76-89 record and made back-to-back trips to the semifinals of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament in 2009 and 2010.

Between his two stops at CSU-Pueblo, Eberhart joined Colorado State University in 2001 and served as an assistant coach for three seasons while adding recruiting coordinator to his title in 2004. While he was at Colorado State, the Rams claimed a Mountain West Conference Tournament championship and an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament in 2003. Eberhart’s most notable signee for the Rams was Jason Smith. Smith went on to win the 2004-05 Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year award and eventually was a first round draft pick in the 2007 NBA Draft.

Eberhart’s coaching career began in 1990 as a student assistant on the Adams State men’s basketball team. From there, he spent four years as an assistant coach at two high schools in Denver, Colorado, before earning his first collegiate coaching job as the assistant men’s basketball coach and assistant to the athletic director at Colorado Christian University in 1995.
Eberhart was a standout guard for Adams State from 1986-91. He led the Grizzlies in scoring both his junior and senior years and was a two-time RMAC all-conference selection. Eberhart still holds the Adams State record for most three-point field goals in a game with nine.

Eberhart obtained his bachelor’s in business administration and education from Adams State in 1991 and later went on to receive his master’s in education curriculum instruction and design from Colorado Christian University in 1997.

Eberhart and his wife, Teresa, have a daughter, Emma.

Brandon Ubel | Assistant Coach

Brandon Ubel was introduced as assistant coach in April of 2022. Ubel played collegiate basketball at Nebraska, spent five years playing professinal basketball overseas. and was a part of former USD head coach Craig Smith's staff for three seaons prior to joining South Dakota.

A native of Overland Park, Kansas, Ubel began his career as a graduate assistant coach at Utah State from 2019-21. Ubel was part of a staff that led the Aggies to a Mountain West Conference Tournament championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2020. In the following season, the Aggies finished runner-up at the conference tournament and received an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament. Ubel’s duties at Utah State included film evaluation, facilities scheduling, video coordination, and academic oversight. Ubel was the main point of contact for visiting teams and was responsible for scheduling practice and shootaround times for away teams.

After two seasons at Utah State, Ubel followed Smith to the University of Utah and spent last season as the director of scouting. As the director of scouting, Ubel’s responsibilities included assisting in finding and evaluating film of potential recruits, implementing and presenting a scouting report on opponents, and overseeing academics and compliance for the team. Ubel had a recruiting focus in the states of Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Iowa, and Utah and also dipped into international recruiting.

Ubel was a four-year standout at the University of Nebraska from 2009-13. He played his first three seasons under Doc Sadler and his senior season under Tim Miles. Ubel appeared in 125 games and started 89 games for the Huskers. In his senior season as team co-captain, Ubel averaged 11.5 points per game and finished seventh in the Big Ten with 6.7 rebounds per game. In addition to his success on the court, Ubel was a three-time academic all-american, earned the 2012 Nebraska HERO Leadership award, and was a nominee for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award in 2013.

In his professional career, Ubel played three of those five years in two separate stints with Basic-Fit Brussels Basketball located in Belgium. Between that, Ubel played for the Antwerp Giants in 2014-15 in the Belgian Euromillions League – the highest tier of basketball in Belgium. He closed out his professional career by playing the 2017-18 season for Boulazac Basket Dordogne located in France. Throughout his professional career, Ubel was a two-time all-league honoree and finished in the top five in MVP voting his first season.

Ubel earned his bachelor’s degree in broadcast production from Nebraska in 2013 and his master’s degree in physical and sport education in 2021 from Utah State. Ubel and his wife, Stephanie, are excited to be a part of the USD community.

Casey Bruggeman | Director of Operations

Casey Bruggeman was hired as the Director of Basketball Operations in May of 2022. He enters his first season with South Dakota in the 2022-23 season.

As the Director of Operations, Bruggeman will manage compliance, student-athlete academics, finances, and team travel. He will also assist in all aspects of recruiting and scheduling of practices and game preparation.

Born in Pelican Rapids, Minnesota, Bruggeman joined the Bulldog staff in August of 2018. He took on many duties as one of two assistants on staff including scouting, recruiting, practice planning, budgeting, player development, and in-game schemes. Bruggeman was also responsible for maintaining the team's social media accounts and creating content for recruits. Off the court, he was responsible for monitoring student-athletes' academic efforts, assisting in the organizing and execution of donor and alumni outreach, and volunteering for game management and community events.

The Bulldogs amassed a 70-32 record with Bruggeman on the bench. They compiled the most wins for Minnesota Duluth in the Division II era with 25 wins in the 2021-22 season and at one point were ranked fifth in Division II which was the highest national ranking the Bulldogs have ever achieved. UMD was the 2021-22 NSIC-North Champions and earned an at-large bid to the 2022 NCAA Division II Tournament.

Bruggeman began his coaching career as an assistant coach at the University of Mary from 2016-18. While on the Marauders staff, Bruggeman was responsible for recruiting, scouting, academic oversight, and was the lead camp director for the youth and team basketball camps. Along with his coaching duties, Bruggeman also took on the job of program operations. He coordinated travel logistics, managed student-athlete schedules, monitored budgeting, assisted with fundraising, and coordinated volunteer efforts.

Bruggeman played four seasons of collegiate basketball at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. He was voted team captain his senior season before an injury sidelined him for the remainder of his career. Bruggeman graduated from Concordia College in 2016 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics education before obtaining his master's degree in 2018 from the University of Mary in physical education and athletic administration.