WINONA, Minn. – Winona State has handed the keys of its storied men's basketball program to a veteran coach with championship-level experience at multiple institutions.
Todd Eisner, a Chilton, Wis. native who's taken three separate NAIA programs to the Elite Eight – including two championship game appearances – was introduced to the community and media Monday as the 20th coach in Winona State history by WSU Director of Athletics Eric Schoh.
"It's a great day to be a Warrior," said Schoh. "Today's a special day. As we went through the search process the one name that kept surfacing to the top was Todd Eisner."
"I'm so looking forward to becoming a part of this University and the Winona community," said Eisner. "I think a real bright future as we move forward to what everybody expects here with our basketball program starts here in a couple of days."
Eisner takes over the Warrior program after a successful four-year stint at Midland University, where his tenure was highlighted by the school's first appearance in the NAIA Division II National Championship game in the 2013-14 season. For his team's accomplishments, Eisner was named the 2014 Rawlings NAIA Division II National Coach of the Year. Eisner's team shattered the school record for wins in a season that year, amassing a record of 30-6. Eisner's Midland squad has been ranked in the NAIA DII Top 25 Coaches' Poll every week over the past two seasons and has been as high as No. 2 for three weeks. In four seasons at Midland, Eisner assembled a 96-39 record.
In Eisner's 17 seasons as an NAIA coach at four different institutions, he's compiled a phenomenal 417-165 record (a .716 winning percentage) and can boast the claim of being the only coach in NAIA Division II history to take three different programs to the "Elite Eight" national tournament and the only coach to take two programs to the championship game.
Prior to arriving at Midland University, Eisner was a head coach at three other NAIA institutions. His first head coaching opportunity was from 1995-1999 at Viterbo (WI) University. The V-Hawks won one conference championship and one tournament championship during this time and the 1998-1999 squad advanced to the "Elite Eight" of the national tournament. From 2000-2008, Eisner resurrected the Bellevue University program, capturing six conference championships and playing in the national tournament seven times. Two times (2004, 2008), Bellevue played for the national championship under Eisner's guidance. The Bruins also finished the 2006-2007 season ranked No. 1 in the country at the end of the regular season. His teams averaged over 28 wins per year in those eight seasons. Eisner was also the head coach at Benedictine (KS) College for one year, leading the Ravens to a fourth place finish in the difficult 10-team Heart of America Athletic Conference.
Eisner's players also excel in the classroom, as his varsity team's GPA has been above 3.0 each of his four years at the institution.
Eisner played collegiately at NCAA Division I Creighton University from 1986-1991. During this time, the Bluejays captured two Missouri Valley Conference championships and played in two NCAA tournaments and one NIT. Eisner led the MVC in three-point field goal percentage in 1989 and was named captain of the Bluejays prior to his junior year. He graduated in the spring of 1991 with a double major in business management and finance. Eisner later became an assistant coach at his alma mater. Eisner also received his master's degree from the United States Sports Academy in 2007. He is married to Andrea, also a Creighton graduate, who is a principal in the Omaha Public School district.
