South Dakota State University men’s basketball coach T.J. Otzelberger announced Thursday the completion of his coaching staff with the hirings of Eric Henderson and Ben Walker as assistant coaches.
Otzelberger previously announced that longtime Jackrabbit assistant coach Rob Klinkefus would stay on as a member of his first coaching staff.
Henderson is no stranger to The Summit League, having served the past two seasons as an assistant coach at North Dakota State. In his first season in Fargo, Henderson helped lead the Bison to the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
A 2000 graduate of Wayne State (Neb.), Henderson began his collegiate coaching career at his alma mater. After coaching girls’ basketball at Wayne Community School for two seasons, he moved on to Iowa State, where he was the graduate manager for the Cyclones’ men’s basketball team for two seasons and a learning specialist for one. He returned to coaching in the prep ranks at Burlington Catholic Central High School in Burlington, Wisconsin, from 2009-14, while also serving stints as principal and athletic director.
Walker joins the Jackrabbit coaching staff from Jackson State (Miss.), where spent the 2015-16 season as an assistant coach for a program that posted a 20-16 record and made a postseason appearance in the College Insider Tournament. He previously coached in the junior college ranks, winning conference titles and making national tournament appearances at both Des Moines Area Community College (Iowa) and Butler Community College (Kan.).
As a collegiate player, Walker lettered from 1998-2001 for Creighton squads that made three NCAA Tournament appearances with one NIT berth. He later embarked on a professional playing experience with several stops overseas, along with stints with the Sioux Falls Skyforce and Gary Steelheads of the CBA. Walker was inducted into the Creighton University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2010.
In addition, Otzelberger announced that Tyler Glidden will join the program as coordinator of basketball operations. Glidden has spent the past four seasons at Creighton, where he filled the role of video coordinator during the 2012-13 season and basketball administrator for three years. His primary duties on the administrative side included serving as the liaison between the coaching and academic support staffs, as well as organizing community outreach programs.
