Shafer says new Southeast Missouri State women's basketball coach is 'good fit'

Southeast Missouri State director of athletics John Shafer said he has no doubt that Ty Margenthaler is the right person to lead the university's women's basketball program back to prominence.

Margenthaler, an assistant at Wisconsin the past five years, was introduced Thursday as the seventh coach in the program's history.

"We were looking for a good fit for the program, for the university. He was perfect," Shafer said. "He's got impeccable credentials. He's so enthusiastic. ... I'm really excited and he's excited."

Shafer likened Margenthaler to Southeast men's basketball coach Dickey Nutt -- Shafer's first significant hire at the university -- for their enthusiasm and the fact both grew up in a coaching family.

Margenthaler's father Jack is a former longtime college coach and his brother Matt is currently a college coach.

"He's the closest thing to Dickey Nutt I've ever seen," Shafer said. "He's got a great pedigree. He grew up in coaching. That was a big factor."

Shafer said another factor was Margenthaler's experience at various levels. He has been an assistant at a Division II program (SIU-Edwardsville), a mid-major Division I program (Bradley) and a high-major Division I program (Wisconsin).

"He's got 15 years of experience at all levels," Shafer said. "He's done it all and he was ready to be a head coach."

Shafer said he had not heard of Margenthaler until beginning the coach search after Southeast decided not to renew John Ishee's contract last month.

But once Margenthaler was brought to Shafer's attention, it didn't take long for him to become impressed.

"We heard about him early on and we contacted him about his interest," Shafer said. "We had a great pool of candidates, more than I ever thought. Then we had those we reached out to. We narrowed it down to three, invited them to campus. We kept coming back to Ty."

Although the university never has announced any finalists, the other two who interviewed at Southeast last week were TCU assistant Brian Ostermann and Dayton assistant Kyle Rechlicz.

It was reported previously that Dayton assistant Angie Russell was a finalist but it actually was Rechlicz, another female member of Dayton's coaching staff.

"The three people we had in were great choices. At the end of the day, Ty separated himself," Shafer said. "He's a man of great character. He's got great values, a great family. They're going to be a great fit.

"I hope he's here for many years to come."