Stephen Mark Merfeld (born September 23, 1961) is an American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach. He currently is the associate head men's basketball coach at

Creighton University Creighton University () is a private research university in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate ...

and previously served as head coach at

Hampton University Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missiona ...

and the

University of Evansville The University of Evansville (UE) is a private university in Evansville, Indiana. It was founded in 1854 as Carnegie Hall of Moores Hill College, Moores Hill College. The university operates a satellite center, Harlaxton Manor, Harlaxton College ...

Career

After graduating from the

University of Wisconsin–La Crosse The University of Wisconsin–La Crosse (UWL or UW–La Crosse) is a public research university in La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States. Established in 1909, it is part of the University of Wisconsin System and offers bachelor's, master's, and ...

, Merfeld began his coaching career with a ten-year stint as an assistant under

Jim Larrañaga James Joseph Larrañaga Sr ( ; born October 2, 1949) is a former college basketball coach. He was most recently the head coach of the University of Miami Hurricanes men's basketball team from 2011 to 2024 when he retired. Before joining the ...

at Bowling Green State. He then joined the staff at Hampton, where he was promoted to head coach in 1997 after one season as an assistant coach. Merfeld coached the Hampton Pirates to back-to-back NCAA tournaments, including a first-round upset of second-seeded

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State be ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

. The shot of Hampton

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

David Johnson lifting a jubilant Merfeld in the air in celebration after the Pirates' 2001 upset remains a memorable event in March Madness history. After being named

Mid-Major Mid-major conferences in American college sports at the NCAA Division I level are athletic conferences that are not among the power conferences. The grouping is most commonly used in men's college basketball to describe conferences outside of the ...

Coach of the Year by CollegeInsider.com in 2002, Merfeld departed Hampton to become the head coach at Evansville, a position he remained in until 2007. In December 2009, he stepped down as an assistant coach at

Bradley University Bradley University is a private university in Peoria, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1897, Bradley University enrolls 5,200 students who are pursuing degrees in more than 100 undergraduate programs and more than 30 graduate programs in fiv ...

. Merfeld joined

Greg McDermott Greg McDermott (born November 25, 1964) is an American basketball coach who has been the head coach of the Creighton Bluejays men's basketball, Creighton Bluejays men's basketball team since 2010. Previously, McDermott served as the head coach a ...

's staff at Creighton prior to the 2010–11 season.

Head coaching record

References

1961 births Living people American men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Wisconsin Bowling Green Falcons men's basketball coaches Bowling Green State University alumni Bradley Braves men's basketball coaches Creighton Bluejays men's basketball coaches Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball coaches Hampton Pirates basketball coaches High school basketball coaches in the United States People from Grant County, Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–La Crosse alumni {{US-basketball-coach-stub