2011-2012 Men's Basketball Media Guide - College of Southern ...

On May 5, 2008 College of Southern Idaho Athletic Director Joel Bate announced
Steve Gosar as the 15th head basketball coach in the storied program’s history. The
2011-12 campaign will be Gosar’s fourth season as head coach and seventh overall at
CSI.
Gosar recalls his first trip to CSI as a recruiter for Portland State, “I remember just
thinking to myself - ‘What a special, special place.’ It was like no place I’ve ever been.
And I thought if I’d ever be so lucky to have the honor to coach here, how blessed I
would be.”
Blessed indeed.
This past season (2010-2011) was one of the most memorable ones in Golden Eagle
history. Finishing 33-4, the Golden Eagles won the Scenic West Athletic Conference
regular season title, the Region 18 Tournament and ended a 24-year drought of national
championships by winning the school’s third NJCAA Basketball Championship. Along
the way, Gosar earned Region 18, District 1 and NJCAA Coach of the Year honors as
well as being honored as the Outstanding Coach of the national tournament.
Guard Pierre Jackson was named SWAC Player of the Year, Region 18 Tournament
MVP, NJCAA National Tournament MVP and NJCAA Player of the year. He is the first CSI player to win all four awards
in a season. Kenny Buckner was named first team all-region and was named to the national tournament team. Eagle High
School (Idaho) standout Mitch Bruneel was named to the all region team and the national all-tournament team. Point
guard Darius Smith was named all region. Shooting guard Jerrold Brooks was named all region and made the Region 18
all-tourney team.
In his three seasons as a head coach, Gosar has compiled a 75-25 overall record. During the seven years that Gosar has
been a part of Golden Eagle basketball, the program has had four All-Americans, 19 all-region selections, three Region 18
Tournament MVPs and has helped 36 players move on to continue their education and play at four-year universities.
Prior to CSI, Gosar was an assistant at Portland State for Head Coach Heath Schroyer and was key to the team’s improvement.
He helped recruit a class that was ranked by collegeinsider.com as the top recruiting class in the Big Sky. With
those recruits, the team earned the distinction of being one of the top three turnaround programs in the country in 2004-05.
The Vikings finished the 2002-03 season 5-22 and improved to 11-16 in 2003-04. In Gosar’s last season at PSU, the
Vikings posted a 19-9 record, the best ever in the history of the school as a Division I program. Portland State also won
the Big Sky Conference regular season title, the school’s first men’s championship title since becoming a NCAA Division
I program. Two players off that team earned conference and national accolades. Will Funn was the NCAA Division I
national assist leader and Seamus Boxley garnered Big Sky Player of the Year honors.
Before joining the Vikings, Gosar spent two seasons working for Head Coach Steve McClain as a graduate assistant at
the University of Wyoming. Those two years, the Cowboys won back-to-back Mountain West Conference Championships,
including the school’s first outright conference championship in the last 20 years. The 2002 Wyoming team made it to the
second round of the NCAA Tournament with a first-round win over Gonzaga.
Originally from Pinedale, Wyo., Gosar played his collegiate ball at Wyoming, earning a bachelor’s degree in molecular
biology. Gosar is married to Lu. They have three boys - Jake, Jaxon and Jace.
Pictured at the right is
Steve, his wife Lu and
their sons Jake (left),
Jaxon and the newest
addition Jace.
Head Coach Steve Gosar
4th Season
6