Named the 16th head men's basketball coach in program history, Randall Herbst rejoined the Minot State athletic department in the spring of 2025.
An assistant coach for the Beavers for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons who helped guide Minot State to a 26-17 record and the 2021 NSIC semifinals during his time on the Beavers bench, Herbst spent the previous three season as a top assistant coach at the University of North Dakota.
A veteran coach with 30-plus years of experience, including a 72-47 overall record in four seasons as a head coach, Herbst spent four years as an Associate Head Coach with the University of Wisconsin Green Bay prior to his first stint at Minot State. He helped lead the Phoenix to the 2016 NCAA Tournament for the first time in 20 years. Herbst's coaching helped five players earn First-Team or Second-Team Horizon League Honors and lifted Amari Davis to 2020 Horizon League Freshman of the Year.
Herbst helped guide the Phoenix to one of its most exciting seasons in program history, which saw GB advance all the way to the CIT Championship game before finishing the season 21-17 in 2018-19.
Herbst also aided the Phoenix in capturing the 2015-16 Horizon League Tournament Championship and earn its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 20 years, and also coached the 2016-17 team to the program's fifth-consecutive postseason appearance.
Green Bay accepted an invite to the 2017 College Basketball Invitational, thanks to a third-place finish in the Horizon League with a 12-6 record. Herbst has played a key role in recruiting during his first two seasons with the Phoenix, helping the team recruit local and national talent to Green Bay, while also serving as a great mentor and teacher to his players.
Herbst's recruiting ability worked quickly following his hiring in May of 2015, as he soon played an instrumental part in the signing of JUCO transfers Charles Cooper and Jamar Hurdle. Cooper, who landed on the Horizon League All-Tournament team in Detroit, was a key part of Green Bay's success after finishing second on the team in scoring with 13.6 PPG and setting the new program record in single season free throw attempts. He also coached 2017 Horizon League Sixth Man of the Year Warren Jones and First-Team Horizon League selections Sandy Cohen and JayQuan McCloud.
For the previous four seasons, Herbst served as the top assistant coach at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. In 2013-14, the Maverick program made its first Division I postseason appearance after being invited to play in the College Insider.com Tournament (CIT), where it advanced to the second round.
From 2009-11, Herbst was the head coach at the University of Mary. He led the Marauders to a 38-19 record, including a 23-6 mark in 2010-11. UMary won 16 straight conference games to finish 18-4 and finish second in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference standings. The Marauders qualified for the NCAA Division II Central Region tournament for the first time. Herbst was also named 2010-11 North Dakota College Coach of the Year and a finalist for NCAA Division II Coach of the Year that season. While at UMary, Herbst recruited and coached All-American Anthony Moody and First-Team All-NSIC player Eric Erdmann.
From 2007-09, Herbst served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator on Derrin Hansen's staff at UNO. In his first Maverick season, Herbst helped guide UNO to a school-record 25 wins, the North Central Conference Tournament title and a second-round appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament. While at Omaha, he recruited and signed two-time First-Team All-Summit League and Defensive Player of the Year Tra-Deon Hollins as well as 2015 Mr. Basketball in the state of Minnesota, J.T. Gibson.
Prior to his first stint at UNO, Herbst spent the 2006-07 season as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Florida Southern. The 1993 Winona State graduate also served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at North Dakota from 2000-06. He was the associate head coach at UND from 2004-06. While at North Dakota, Herbst coached three NCC Players of the Year, three All-Americans, and Jerome Beasley, the 2003 NCAA Division II National Player of the Year who was drafted by the Miami Heat in the second round of the NBA Draft.
Herbst's first head coaching experience came at Waldorf Junior College from 1998-2000, where his team notched 19 wins in 1998-99, the second most in school history. Waldorf was ranked No. 1 in the country in team defense both seasons.
Prior to Waldorf, Coach Herbst coached the 1997-98 season at Division II Lincoln Memorial University. Herbst helped lead LMU to a 19-8 record which was, at the time, the second-highest single-season win total in school history.
His college coaching career started, though, even earlier at North Iowa Area Community College from 1993-1997. NIACC had three winning seasons, two 20+ win campaigns and the 1995 NJCAA Division II National Championship.
In 2016, Herbst was induced into the Waldorf University Hall of Fame for his impressive contributions as both a student-athlete on the baseball and basketball teams and later as the head men's basketball coach. Herbst's resume while at Waldorf includes: Two-time All-Region XI selection and two-time NJCAA Academic All-American in basketball and baseball, assistant coach of NIACC's 1994-95 NJCAA national championship team, head coach of the Waldorf men's basketball team that ranked second in school history for wins in a season and first in the nation in team defense.
Herbst earned academic All-America honors at Waldorf Junior College as a player in 1991 and was the school's Male Athlete of the Year. He was the team captain two years and was a two-time all-region honorable mention pick. He went on to play two seasons at Winona State, helping the Warriors to back-to-back winning seasons in 1991-92, and 1992-93 and was the team captain as a senior. He graduated cum laude with a degree in physical education. Herbst scored 1,031 points during his four-year college career. He added a master of science degree in sports administration from Minnesota State-Mankato in 2005.
In September 2012, Herbst was honored with induction into the Beaver Dam High School (Wis.) Hall of Fame.
Herbst and his wife, the former Kari Ann Kalenze, have a daughter, Liza, and a son, Jude.
Randall Herbst's Career Coaching Record
| YEAR & TEAM |
W (OVERALL) |
L |
W (CONFERENCE) |
L |
OTHER |
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| 2010-11 (Mary) |
23 |
6 |
18 |
4 |
NCAA Tournament |
| 2009-10 (Mary) |
15 |
13 |
11 |
9 |
|
| 1999-2000 (Waldorf |
15 |
15 |
|
|
|
| 1998-99 (Waldorf) |
19 |
12 |
|
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| OVERALL |
72 |
46 |
29 (NSIC) |
13 |
|
