Jamison Rusthoven is set to begin his first season as an assistant coach at Lindenwood in 2018-19.
Rusthoven spent the past five seasons as the head coach of the Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota men's basketball program. Under his tutelage, the Cardinals recorded the team's largest conference margin of victory in a single game since the 1956-57 season; set a program-record 25 team assists in a single game; tied the best overall and conference record since the 1999- 2000 season; erupted for 106 points, which were just four shy of the school-record 110 points, set against UM-Duluth during the 1952-53 season; put an end to a 12-game slide against the Gustavus Adolphus College that dated back to Jan. 27, 2010; had two of the only eight program wins to date against Carleton College and had four players named all-conference honorable mention.
Under Rusthoven, the Cardinals had the highest semester team GPA in recent memory (3.31); the highest yearly team GPA in recent memory (3.29); saw his team named as back-to-back NABC Team Academic Excellence Award winners for the first time in program history; had 10 players named to the NABC Honors court, as well as having one player named the school’s Outstanding Senior Male in 2016.
Off the court, Coach Rusthoven had four academic all-conference selections for the 2016-17 school year, which was the second-most among men's basketball programs in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) and gave the Cardinals seven Academic All-MIAC picks since the 2014-2015 season—after the men’s basketball program managing just one representative from 2005 to 2013.
With his hire at Saint Mary’s University, Coach Rusthoven became the first African-American head basketball coach in the 100+ year history of the MIAC.
Prior to accepting the Saint Mary's position, Rusthoven spent the three seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, winning 50 games and helping lead the squad to the WIAC (Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Conference) Basketball Tournament each of those years. The 2012-13 team finished the season in the WIAC Tournament final and ranked seventh in the nation in scoring defense.
Coach Rusthoven served as an assistant at Hamline University for five years where he helped guide them from a 10th place finish during his first year to a 3rd place finish in the MIAC his last year. Rusthoven was an assistant at Minneapolis Community and Technical College for the 2004-2006 seasons where the program posted a two-year record of 56-8 with two conference championships, one regional title, and a national tournament appearance, all while working for head coach Jay Pivec, a 2010 NJCAA Hall of Fame Inductee. The 2001-2003 seasons were spent at Concordia-St. Paul, where he was a part of the program’s transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II.
Throughout his college career, Rusthoven has coached 12 all-first year team members, 27 first-team all-conference players, three All-Americans, two players named as Conference Player of the Year and one player named as National Player of the year.
Prior to his jump back to the collegiate level, Coach Rusthoven was the boy’s head basketball coach at the largest high school in Minneapolis, Minneapolis Southwest, for five seasons (1996-01). During his time at Southwest High, the school saw some of their best teams; doubling win totals and watching many of his players play at places such as the Minnesota, UW-Milwaukee, Tennessee-Martin and Howard University as well as in the MIAC and WIAC respectfully. Coach Rusthoven left the school fourth on the school's all-time winning percentage list.
His very early coaching experiences includes a conference championship and two second-place finishes as an assistant at Osseo High School, as well as time on the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities campus, where he was a student assistant coach for Clem Haskins and the 1992-93 NIT champion Golden Gophers.
Rusthoven and his wife, Heidi, have two children, son Trey and daughter Ashley.
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