Carroll College Names New Men’s Basketball Head Coach

Less than a month ago, former Carroll College Men's Basketball Head Coach Kurt Paulson resigned. Now, Carroll found its new guy.

Ryan Lundgren was named head coach of the Fighting Saints Monday afternoon and introduced at a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

Coach Lundgren's path to Helena

Prior to Carroll, Lundgren was the Associate Head Coach at the College of Southern Idaho (CSI), a Junior College in the Scenic West Athletic Conference. Lundgren spent four seasons in Twin Falls. The new Fighting Saints Head Coach also had stops at the high school level. He was head coach at Vallivue High School in Caldwell, Idaho, and associate head coach at Boise High School per CSI's website. As head coach, he led his team to three Idaho State Tournaments.

Big shoes to fill

The Boise State graduate takes over a dominant NAIA program in the last decade. However, last year was more of a struggle for the Saints as they finished below .500 and failed to reach 20 wins for the first time since 2014-2015 according to Carroll Athletics. The pinnacle was in 2019 when Carroll reached the NAIA National Championship game in Kansas City. The Saints came up short that day as they dropped a 68-48 decision against Georgetown.

Montana coaching changes

Carroll College became the second Montana-based school to change men's basketball head coaches this offseason. Danny Sprinkle departed Montana State after leading the Bobcats to the NCAA Tournament last year. The former Bobcat ring leader landed in Logan at Utah State University. The coaching carousel is alive and well in the Treasure State.

Good luck to Coach Lundgren.