Nick Perrin just finished his third season as an Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach at Bethany in 2018-19. As Coach Fletcher's right-hand man, Coach Perrin has been key to the resurgence of men’s basketball at Bethany Lutheran.
In three seasons, Perrin has helped coach the Vikings to an overall record of 55-26 for a 0.632 win percentage. In Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) play, the Vikings are 38-10 which is a win percentage of 0.792.
The 2018-19 season saw the Vikings set a program record for most wins in a regular season (18). They took second place in the UMAC and hosted a semi-final playoff game for the third consecutive season. The Vikings continued their up-tempo style of play, averaging 88.0 point per game (2nd) in UMAC play. They finished the UMAC season third in defensive field goal percentage, holding their opponents to 44.1% from the field.
The Vikings garnered six UMAC post-season awards, led by freshman point guard Cire Mayfield who was named UMAC 1st Team All-Conference and Freshman of the Year. This is the second year in a row the Vikings have had a player named Freshman of the Year. Additionally, BLC boasted an All-Conference 2nd Team and All-Defensive Team selection in power forward Trenton Krueger. Senior post player Jarred Merchant was named UMAC Honorable Mention after battling back from a torn ACL during his junior season and sophomore guard Jared Milinkovich was named to the All-Defense Team.
Coach Perrin was a huge part of the most successful season in program history in 2017-18. The Vikings finished with an overall record of 20-9, setting a record for most wins in a single season. With that, the Vikings captured the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) regular season championship with a record of 13-3. The Vikings built on that success by winning the UMAC tournament championship for the first time in school history, advancing to their first ever NCAA Tournament.
In the first ever NCAA Tournament appearance for the Vikings, they defeated the #7 nationally ranked St. John’s University on their home floor. The Vikings shocked the Johnnies with a stunning 102-92 victory for Bethany Lutherans first ever win in the NCAA Tournament.
The 2017-18 season was one for the record books as the Vikings set single season records for most points scored, 3-point field goals made, 3-point field goal percentage, overall field goal percentage, free throws made, free throw percentage, total assists, and scoring margin.
The Vikings led the UMAC with 84.4 points per game as well as 17.3 assists per game. Defensively, the Vikings held their UMAC opponents to a league-low 40.9% shooting from the field. Additionally, the Vikings had five players receive conference honors including First Team All-UMAC player Trenton Krueger, Second Team All-UMAC players Brady Rose and Bradley Rose, Honorable Mention All-UMAC player Neil Eichten, and Freshman of the Year Jake Dale.
In his two years at BLC, Perrin has contributed to an overall record of 37-18 for a winning percentage of 0.673. The Vikings overall conference record in the UMAC is 25-7. Perrin has coached and developed one UMAC player of the year, two First Team All-UMAC players, two Second Team All-UMAC players, three UMAC Honorable Mention players, and one Freshman of the Year.
Perrin came to BLC after spending one season in the UMAC at the University of Minnesota-Morris. Perrin helped the University of Minnesota-Morris to a 13-14 overall record including winning 9 of 16 in conference and winning the conference tournament play-in game as the 4th seed. Perrin instructed a 1st Team All-Conference performer and two All-Defensive Team members. Prior to his time in Morris, he spent two seasons in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference at Upper Iowa University as an assistant. In those two seasons, the Peacocks had a combined record of 32-28 advancing to the second round of the conference tournament each season. Perrin instructed two All-Conference performers and one All-Region player. He has also been at the high school level as an assistant to Coach Fletcher at Anoka High School and South St. Paul High School.
Perrin is also active in running basketball camps acting as a camp director for Midwest Elite Basketball for the last three years. He helped run and instruct Upper Iowa's youth and high school camps during his time there. He has also been an instructor at multiple other college and high school camps across the state of Minnesota.
“I am ecstatic to be joining Coach Fletcher at Bethany. Having known and coached with him for many years I am confident we will have success on the court as well as have a positive impact on young men off the court.”
