A University of Mary graduate and a native of Bismarck, N.D., Jason Schmitz returned home to join the Marauders women's basketball team as an assistant coach in the fall of 2014.
“We are extremely excited to bring Jason home to Bismarck and the University of Mary,” said U-Mary head women's basketball coach Rick Neumann. “As a Marauder, he understands our culture and what we stand for as a university. Jason brings a great skill set to our basketball program. He has worked our camps the past two years, allowing him to develop a great rapport with our players. Our athletes were unanimously in favor of hiring Jason after he met with them.
“What I really like about Jason is that he has been a head coach. The experience of running a program, regardless of level, is something that cannot be understated. Jason will be involved in every aspect of our program, with a major emphasis on player development and preparing our defensive scouting reports. We are very fortunate to find someone of Jason’s caliber at this time of year. Jason rounds out a completely new staff of assistant coaches, all of whom combine to bring an amazing amount of energy to every facet of our program.”
The two first became acquainted when Neumann coached Schmitz in basketball at St. Mary’s High School.
“Coming back to the University of Mary and coaching for Coach Neumann is incredibly exciting,” said Schmitz. “The fact I get to work for a person I respect so much while being able to do so at my alma mater is truly a blessing. I'm excited to get to work and continue to build on the previous success of the program.”
Schmitz returns to Bismarck from Yuma, Ariz., when he was named the Gila Ridge High School girls head coach in May.
The high school head girls basketball coach at Oakes (N.D.) in 2013-14, Schmitz was also the interim athletic director for the Tornadoes much of last season. He was an assistant coach for the girls at Oakes in 2012-13. He started coaching girls basketball as an assistant at Wilton (N.D.) High School during the 2011-12 season and was concurrently the Wing, (N.D) Public School athletic director.
Schmitz began his coaching career as an assistant boys basketball coach at St. Mary’s from 2003-06.
A 2008 U-Mary graduate with a bachelor’s degree in social behavioral science education, Schmitz gained collegiate coaching experience that year as the Bismarck State College baseball assistant coach. He then joined Worcester State University in Worcester, Mass., as the graduate assistant baseball coach for 2008-09 before becoming the graduate assistant to the athletic director for 2009-10. He earned his master’s degree in secondary education from Worcester in 2010.
