Southeast Missouri State tabs Margenthaler as women's basketball coach

Ty Margenthaler has been a head coach once -- of a boys team back in the late 1990s at Roxana (Ill.) High School.

But Margenthaler believes he is more than ready to take on the challenge of getting the Southeast Missouri State women's basketball program back on track.

Margenthaler, an assistant at Wisconsin the past five seasons, was introduced as the Redhawks' coach during a Thursday morning news conference at the Show Me Center attended by boosters, administrators, media and other Southeast coaches.

"This has been a dream come true for me," said the 39-year-old Margenthaler, who signed a four-year contract for $82,500 per year. "I've been at all different levels, seen all different styles. I feel this is the time for me to take over a program."

Margenthaler, a 1997 SIU-Edwardsville graduate, served as Wisconsin's recruiting coordinator the past five years. He was an assistant at Bradley from 2000 through 2006.

The Macomb, Ill., native also was an assistant for two years at SIU-Edwardsville, where he played under his father, Jack, who coached 11 seasons at SIU-E following a 15-year stint at Western Illinois.

"All the places I've coached have prepared me," Margenthaler said. "This is just another step to take forward. I'm excited to put my stamp on the program."

Jack was at Thursday's news conference, along with Margenthaler's mother, his in-laws, his wife, Julie, and their two sons, Brice, 11, and Nate, 7.

"This is a special, special day for myself and also for my family," Margenthaler said. "That's something you're going to hear a lot about is family. I want this basketball program to be about family. I think that's really important."

Margenthaler is part of a coaching family. Not only is his father a former longtime coach, his brother Matt is the men's coach at Minnesota State-Mankato, which reached this year's Division II Final Four.

"I think it definitely helps," Margenthaler said about his background. "I've seen the ups and downs, how you treat kids."

Margenthaler replaces John Ishee, whose contract wasn't renewed last month after five years, the last two of which tied the school record for losses in a season.

Southeast went 8-21 overall and a ninth-place 4-14 in the 10-team Ohio Valley Conference last season. That followed a 2009-10 campaign of 7-21 overall and a last-place 4-14 in the OVC.

But Southeast had a three-year record of 62-32 from 2006 through 2009 under Ishee, winning two OVC regular-season titles and earning an NCAA tournament berth.

"There are always going to be challenges, but they've had a lot of success in the past. There's no reason they can't do it in the future," Margenthaler said. "This program is going to do some great things."

Margenthaler said he was excited when Southeast initially contacted him. That excitement only has increased.

"I think it's a win-win situation," Margenthaler said. "I've heard nothing but great things about the community, the facilities, the tradition. I want to continue that tradition."

Margenthaler, who said he was heading out today on a recruiting trip to Chicago, said his first order of business was to meet with his new team later Thursday. Southeast had no seniors on its 2010-11 roster.

"My first priority is getting to know the kids, them getting to know me," he said.

Another of Margenthaler's early priorities will be to assemble a coaching staff. Marcus Payne and Dionnah Jackson, two assistants from Ishee's tenure, have remained at Southeast during the transition period. Margenthaler said he has not ruled out keeping them on board.

"I'm wide open," he said. "I will talk to the remaining staff and get a feel for them."