Mandy Pearson addressed the St. Thomas community as head coach of the women’s basketball program for the first time Thursday.
Director of Athletics Phil Esten announced Wednesday in a press release that Pearson will be the fifth coach in program history for the Tommies, replacing all-time win leader Ruth Sinn.
“I spent 11 years at Duluth, and the reason that I continued to stay there was 100% because the student athletes can be successful in all their lives,” Pearson said. “And so I was trying to tell them that St. Thomas was the only job outside of Minnesota Duluth that I was ever going to be interested in because I knew that student athletes could have a similar experience.”
Pearson is coming off a track record of success at Minnesota Duluth, where she coached for 11 seasons. Pearson won four Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference titles and brought UMD to the 2023 NCAA Division II National Championship game.
This past season, Pearson led Duluth to a 23-9 record and an appearance in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.
Before coaching at UMD, Pearson spent nine seasons leading the women’s basketball program at St. Mary’s University of Minnesota. In those nine seasons, Pearson won two Coach of the Year honors in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Pearson is also a former MIAC basketball player, earning three All-MIAC selections and a First Team All-American selection in her time at Concordia College in Moorhead.
St. Thomas Athletics held a press conference for Pearson Thursday in the Lee and Penny Anderson Arena, with Sinn and men’s basketball coach Johnny Tauer in attendance.
“I arrived on campus today, and they got me up to the office, and I think it was pretty cool that one of the first people that I saw was Ruth Sinn,” Pearson said.
Back in UST’s Division III days, Sinn and Pearson faced off many times while Pearson was at St. Mary’s. Throughout her many matchups with Sinn, Pearson said she “tried to learn from her from afar.”
Pearson said that Sinn will be around campus to help in any way needed.
“I’m thankful that I get to follow in her footsteps and am incredibly thankful that she’s willing to be there for me as I go through this process,” Pearson said.
While Pearson has experience at Divisions II and III, UST will be her first Division I coaching job. She said her biggest challenge at this new level will be the larger staff.
“At the Division III level, the Division II level, I have my hands in every little thing, and now I’m going to have people around me that are going to have large responsibilities, and somehow I have to not be a control freak and let them do their job,” Pearson said.
When making the choice to leave Duluth and join St. Thomas, Pearson said her vision connected with St. Thomas’ mission for student athletes.
“I know that the faculty here deeply cares about their students’ success, and I think that’s fantastic, and that aligns with a vision that I have for student athletes,” Pearson said.
Esten and Deputy Athletic Director Julie Manning said they were grateful that they could bring her to UST.
“We know that she is somebody that is a very, very special coach in that she is able to develop players and is able to really get the most out of it,” Manning said.
After the nationwide search for a coach, Esten said he is ready for a “great future.”
“With Mandy’s experience and culture and the character that she’s exhibited, I think the sky’s the limit,” Esten said.
Owen Bell can be contacted at bell9606@stthomas.edu.
Miles Schiffer can be contacted at schi9629@stthomas.edu.
