Former Minnesota State Moorhead head coach Tim Bergstraser was named Denver’s 34th head men’s basketball coach on April 14, 2025, and completed his first season with the Pioneers in the 2025-26 campaign.
2025-26 (15-17, 8-8 Summit League – NET: 241):
Prior to the start of his first season, the University of Denver accepted a formal invitation to join the West Coast Conference beginning in 2026-27.
In his first season in charge, the Pioneers won five of their final seven games to finish 15-17 and 8-8 in the Summit League to tie for fourth place in the league standings. The finish was the program’s best in the league in eight seasons. Denver’s finish to the regular season was ignited by a sweep in Denver’s final Summit League trip to the state of North Dakota, the Pioneers first away sweep of the Fighting Hawks and Bison in program history.
Following the regular season, in a comparison between KenPom team rankings from the preseason to the end of the regular season, Bergstraser was ranked fourth in the country in overperformance among first year head coaches at their respective programs.
Taking on a schedule that was set before Bergstraser’s arrival, the Pioneers played six of the first seven and seven of their first nine games on the road, starting 3-6 in that stretch, but recording key victories against Montana State and Colorado State to begin the campaign. Denver ended the 32nd most difficult non-conference schedule in the country (according to Ken Pom) at 7-8, also picking up a road win at Northern Colorado in Greeley.
Denver’s 2-0 record against in-state foes made Denver the only unbeaten team in the state against in-state competition this season. It also marked the first time since 2003-04 that Denver beat Colorado State and Northern Colorado in the same season. The Pioneers earned three non-conference road wins this season against teams that went a combined 34-7 against other opponents at home in 2025-26.
As a team, Denver produced one of its best offensive years in its entire history of top-flight basketball, finishing second in scoring (2,650 points), third in field goals made (927), second in three-pointers made (283), seventh in free-throws made (513) and breaking the school record in free-throw percentage (77.3%). Denver turned out two scoring outputs in the top-5 of Denver's scoring chart against DI opponents in the modern era, scoring 98 against both Oral Roberts and at North Dakota.
Fans came out to watch the new attractive style of offensive basketball in the Mile High City this season, producing the highest marks for total attendance (14,725) and average attendance (1,020) since the 2018-19 campaign, the program's last full season in Magness Arena.
Bergstraser brought four MSUM players with him to Denver, including 2025-26 Summit League Player of the Year Carson Johnson, Denver’s first conference player of the year since 2005. The Ankeny, Iowa, native was also the third underclassman to be named to an all-league first team in DU's modern DI era, joining Wahhab Carter (Sun Belt – 2000) and Chris Udofia (Sun Belt – 2012).
MINNESOTA STATE MOORHEAD:
Prior to Denver, Bergstraser went 75-22 in three seasons as the head coach at MSU Moorhead, leading the Dragons to three-consecutive 25-win seasons for the first time in program history. Prior to Bergstraser successfully taking over as the head coach, the Dragons hadn’t produced a 20-win season since going 24-6 in the 2016-17 campaign.
In the classroom, Bergstraser’s teams turned in a 3.4 grade point average in all three seasons of his head coaching tenure, and his program had a student-athlete receive the conference’s Elite 18 award winner (single most academically accomplished student athlete to participate in the NSIC Championship) in all three seasons.
2024-25:
Bergstraser went 25-9 in his final season with the Dragons, winning the program’s third NSIC Tournament title in the last four years. The work wasn’t done for the Dragons after the conference tournament as MSUM went on to reach the NCAA Central Regional Final for the first time since 2014-15. The Dragons went on a 13-game winning streak that included the five postseason wins that came before a regional final loss to the fifth-ranked team in the country in Washburn. The Dragons played at DU Summit League foe North Dakota State in October, 2024, leading by as many as 11 in the second half and seven at the under-8 media timeout, giving the host Bison a preseason scare.
2023-24:
In his second season in charge of the Dragons, Bergstraser led MSUM to a 25-6 mark and an 18-4 record in conference play. Led by a pair of NSIC First Team and NSIC Second Team selections, the Dragons reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament with the program’s first NCAA win in three seasons. The Dragons spent the entire season inside the top-13 of the NABC Coaches’ Poll and achieved the program’s first number one ranking after getting off to a 14-0 start in the campaign.
2022-23:
Bergstraser’s first season as a head coach saw MSUM finish 25-7 and 17-5 in league play in 2022-23. The campaign featured another 10-game winning streak in it, and Bergstraser guided the Dragons to their second-consecutive NSIC Tournament title and his first trip as a head coach into the NCAA Tournament.
AS AN ASSISTANT:
Before becoming the head coach, Bergstraser went 143-85 in his time as an assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, MSU Moorhead and Quincy University and as a grad assistant back at MSUM. During his career as an assistant, Bergstraser was named to the Silverwaves Media Top-50 Most Impactful DII Assistants list.
After his graduate assistantship and two other stops as an assistant coach, Bergstraser returned to MSUM for the 2018-19 campaign, his first of four seasons as an assistant coach there before being promoted to the head spot. As an assistant coach at MSUM, Bergstraser helped the Dragons to their first NSIC Tournament Championship in 2022 and back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2021 and 2022. In the first of two NCAA Tournament trips in 2022 as an assistant, Bergstraser and the Dragons won their first NCAA Tournament game since the 2014-15 campaign.
As a graduate assistant, Bergstraser’s Dragons went 54-12, made the NSIC title game in 2016 and made back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament in his two years in the role. Bergstraser was honored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) with the associations’ Under Armour 30 under 30 award.
In his collegiate playing career at St. Cloud State, Bergstraser helped the Huskies to the NCAA Final Four in the 2009-10 season and earned all-conference honors in 2011-12, averaging 12.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Following the 2011-12 campaign, Bergstraser’s career was cut short due to his third ACL knee injury. St. Cloud State’s Athletic Director and head coach at the time collaborated to provide Bergstraser a scholarship which came along with the early opportunity to get into coaching as a student assistant and remain a part of the program for the 2013-14 season where Bergstraser found his passion for the profession.
Bergstraser and his wife Ashley have a daughter Presley and a son Kai.
Bergstraser’s Coaching Career
2013-14 - Student Assistant Coach - St. Cloud State
2014-15 – Assistant Coach – University of Wisconsin-River Falls
2015-17 – Graduate Assistant Coach – Minnesota State University Moorhead
2017-18 - Assistant Coach – Quincy (Ill.)
2018-22 - Assistant Coach - Minnesota State University Moorhead
2022-23 – Head Coach - Minnesota State University Moorhead – 25-7 – NSIC Tournament Title/NCAA First Round
2023-24 – Head Coach - Minnesota State University Moorhead – 25-6 – NSIC First Round/NCAA Second Round
2024-25 – Head Coach - Minnesota State University Moorhead – 25-9 – NSIC Tournament Title/NCAA Round of 16
2025-26 – Head Coach – University of Denver – 15-17 (8-8) – Program’s first .500 regular season or better in 8 years
Overall Record: 233-124 (90-39 as head coach)
