A successful junior college coach is taking the reigns of the St. Ambrose women’s basketball program. Nathan Altenhofen has spent the past three seasons as the coach at Odessa College in Texas and during the past two years the Lady Wranglers were 68-3 and have spent the last two years ranked in the nation’s top ten. Taking the St. Ambrose job brings him closer to home.
Altenhofen is originally from southwestern Minnesota and says he is coming back to be closer to the upper midwest and his family. He says the Catholic school environment that St. Ambrose offers is also very attractive.
Altenhofen prefers an aggressive style of play, saying he’s had a lot of success at Odessa with an uptempo game and aggressive defense that creates a lot of turnovers. He says he’d like to eventually compete for a national title. Altenhofen says with the success St. Ambrose has had in the past, he sees no reason they can’t eventually compete for a national title.
Altenhofen replaces Amy Eagan, who resigned to enter private business after leading the team to a conference title. He says out of the 25 kids on the roster, only one was a senior, which he says is ideal for a new coach, as it gives them time to adjust to a new system.
Altenhofen says with the make-up of next year’s team it may be a good time for a new coach to take over. He says a team with a lot of experience and seniors isn’t always the best fit for a new system.