WORTHINGTON — New Minnesota West men’s basketball coach Dan Tharp grew up far north of Worthington in Walker and most recently was a head coach near the Canadian border in Ely at Vermilion Community College.
But he knows all about the southwest Minnesota prairie and its hoop history thanks to a connection with the fabulous Schilling boys of Ellsworth.
“I know the Schilling brothers very well,” Tharp said. “I worked for Cody at Mount Marty (in Yankton, S.D.) for a couple of years. It was actually Curt Schilling who got me connected with the job in Worthington.
“I love those guys. That whole family has been really good to me.”
And now Tharp, 33, is hoping to be an excellent hire for Worthington’s community college. He posted a record of 12-13 last year in his only season on the job at Vermilion, turning around a program that was 0-24 the previous year. Minnesota West won only five games last year, and Tharp has been hired to replace Brian Stoebner.
“I think he’ll do a wonderful job and a great job of recruiting,” said Cody Schilling. “He’s going to take a lot of pride in that job and he’s going to be a great and valuable member to the community as well.”
Cody, who had a solid run at Mount Marty and was a successful high school coach in Texas before moving back to the Midwest to get back into college basketball, is confident Tharp is the right man for Minnesota West.
“He’s a grinder, an X’s and O’s guy. He loves watching film and he loves skill development,” Cody said. “I’m excited to see what a Dan Tharp program looks like.
“He’s a hard worker and is never too big for any task. He loves working guys out, he loves recruiting, he loves film breakdown. He just loves being on the court with his players. In today’s world of coaching, if you get a guy who checks all those boxes and really truly loves the game and his players, I think you’re going to get a successful coach.”
Cody is the middle brother in the Schillings, the Ellsworth farm family that produced such hoop glory some 20 years ago. From 2003-2009, the Schilling brothers helped Ellsworth win a pair of Minnesota state championships and earn three other appearances in title games.
Cody, who finished his prep career leading the state in career scoring and assists, is currently an assistant coach at Augustana (S.D.) University. Cody was a star play at Augie and set the school’s career scoring record.
Curt and Casey Schilling are now raising families and working with their father in large hog farm operations. Both are also familiar high school and college basketball officials in southwest Minnesota.
Tharp is friends with them all, which he figures can only help as he navigates the basketball scene in our area.
“They were good ball players and they know what good basketball players look like,” Tharp said. “I know there’s a lot of good basketball played in that area … I’m still going to recruit nationally but for sure I’m excited to bring in some local kids.”
Tharp played high school basketball in Walker and had some college basketball opportunities, but instead went to North Dakota State and was a student manager on a Bison team that qualified for the NCAA Tournament.
He’s been around a little bit, having coached in North and South Dakota, Tennessee, North Carolina, Texas and Louisiana.
Tharp’s wife, Ashley, is from Sioux Falls. She’s a special education teacher who will be working in the Worthington school district this fall. When the Minnesota West job was offered, he didn’t need to be asked twice.
Photo courtesy of Dan Tharp
“It’s a really nice opportunity,” Tharp said. “The facilities are a big upgrade and the location’s a big upgrade. Having recruited the area for so long, it just made a lot of sense when they reached out to me about the job.
“I know it hasn’t gone the way they probably would have liked wins and losses the last couple of years but hopefully we get that turned around.”
Tharp has been recruiting diligently all summer.
“There’s no returners from last year’s team,” Tharp said. “So we’re starting all over with a brand new team and a brand new coaching staff. I hope we’re right around 20 guys when we’re done.
“I’m bringing three guys from Vermilion, two of whom started every game for me last year…We’ll have a couple other Minnesota guys, but we’ll have guys from all over the place.”
The new Bluejays by way of Vermilion include Jordan Samuelson, a 6-foot guard from Sweden, Sammy Russ, a 6-8 forward from White Bear Lake, and Jordan Sinclair, a guard from Alabama. Russ averaged about 10 points and seven rebounds before suffering a season-ending injury about halfway through the 2022-23 campaign. He shot 45 percent from the field. Samuelson averaged about five points and two assists.
Bryan Macario Rios of Windom is also on the roster.
“I’ve got kids from Texas, Missouri, Louisiana, Missouri, Colorado, New York and Indiana. They’re coming from all over the place,” Tharp said.
He’s well-aware of Minnesota West’s fine basketball tradition, which was enhanced last winter when the Lady Jays basketball team advanced to the NJCAA national championship game.
“Obviously the women’s team, they’ve got that thing rolling,” Tharp said. “The crowd support from Worthington is pretty awesome. It seems if you put a good product out there and are competitive the town will really support it, so I’m excited to see that.”
Tharp said he hopes his program will be highly visible in the Worthington community.
“We’re going to make sure we get out there and get my guys out volunteering. If we want the community to support us we’ve got to repay that.”
Tharp hopes to finish in the top four in MCAC South and qualify for the region tournament. The South includes teams from Rochester, St. Cloud, Anoka-Ramsey, Fergus Falls, Ridgewater (Willmar) and Riverland (Austin).
“The MCAC South is a bear, it’s much better than the North and we know that,” he said. “We did pretty well against them last year (at Vermilion). We beat Rochester at home and we beat St. Cloud and Fergus Falls on the road. So we’ve got a little experience. But we know it won’t be easy.”
Tharp is anxious to get started. He said friendships with the Schilling boys have helped him feel at home in southwest Minnesota.
“It’s good to know people,” he said. “I’m hopeful once the season starts I can get out and meet many high school coaches. If anyone ever wants to come by practice my doors are always open. I hope to get more connected with the area and community.”
