Daniel Steffensen looks like he could still suit up and play for the Skyhawks. His shot is still as deadly as ever, and he can go toe-to-toe with most players in practice.
The associate head coach of the NCAA Division II Fort Lewis College men’s basketball team can go toe-to-toe with some of the best young coaches in the country, too. Tuesday, the product of Rio Rancho, New Mexico, was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches 2016-17 Under Armour 30-Under-30 list that recognizes the best up-and-coming coaches under 30 years old in men’s college basketball.
Steffensen said he woke up Tuesday and saw the list and recognized a familiar name in Jase Herl of Colorado State. Steffensen played against Herl when he was a Fort Lewis player, while Herl played for Colorado Mesa.
Along with Herl, Steffensen was honored among coaches from coaches across all divisions, from elite Division I powers to smaller schools.
“I’m pretty humbled,” Steffensen said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “I saw Jase get on the list, and I thought it was awesome for him. Then I happened to see myself get the recognition alongside him, and I was excited to say I can be in a group of so many guys who are so accomplished and doing big things.”
Steffensen, 27, is entering his seventh season as a coach for Fort Lewis. He was named the assistant coach when head coach Bob Pietrack was promoted to interim head coach before the 2015-16 season following the retirement of Bob Hofman.
After recording his 50th win as Pietrack’s top assistant, Steffensen was promoted to associate head coach in February.
“Coach Steffensen has been a key part of the success of the Fort Lewis basketball program,” Pietrack said. “He is very deserving of being recognized as an elite young coach.”
Steffensen looked up to members of his family who coached when he was growing up. He said he always knew he wanted to be a coach, but he never knew he would break in at the college level. He especially admired his brother-in-law, Scott Peterson, the current varsity girls head coach at Rio Rancho.
“Scott really inspired me,” he said. “He was a video coordinator for the San Antonio Spurs, an assistant for the New Mexico Lobos. He’s won an NBA championship, a Mountain West Conference championship and a New Mexico state championship. He was young and drug me everywhere he was going. I was able to be part of the game at a lot of levels at a young age.”
Steffensen thanked Hofman and Pietrack for their mentorship as well as the players he has coached. He also credited the relationship he has with Pietrack, who first recruited him to Fort Lewis when he came out of Rio Rancho High School.
“I think with any success, there has to be chemistry,” Steffensen said. “It’s just like you see with players on the floor. Pietrack and I, we have spectacular chemistry. He was a lead recruiter for me when I played. I think it’s turned from the coaching aspect to a real, genuine friendship. When you got a guy you can trust, especially when he’s your boss, it’s something that can accelerate you as a coach and individual.”
In six seasons as an FLC coach, Steffensen and the Skyhawks have built a 130-50 record that includes the 2011 RMAC Tournament championship and the 2016 regular season and conference tournament championships.
Pietrack has garnered several of his own national coaching awards in his two years in charge of the program. Tuesday was another shining moment for the duo that has elevated the program to its two best seasons in program history with two trips to the second round of the NCAA Division II South Central Region Tournament.
“What we’re doing in the region and for how remote Durango is, I think even Coach Pietrack and I are stunned at some of the success we’ve had,” Steffensen said. “I believe a large reason we’ve had the success is because guys are bought in and they are earning our accomplishments. It’s a matter of keeping it going.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
