Miles Community College is excited to announce the hiring of Jerry Olson as the new Athletic Director.
Jerry Olson is coming to MCC after spending 11 seasons at Oklahoma Panhandle State University as the head men’s basketball coach. Olson also coached at Panhandle State as the women's coach from 1990-1994 and again from 2004-2007. They made the playoffs multiple times and the 1993-1994 team finished in the Elite Eight in the National Tournament and were ranked #4 in one poll. Olson's 2008 men's team was the only Division 2 school to beat a Division 1 school during the regular season as they beat Colorado State 97-91. Olson also served as the Athletic Director at OPSU from 2004-2012.
Before his time at Panhandle State, Olson was the top assistant at Division 1 Montana State. Olson has been part of four of the Montana State five 20-win seasons. While at MSU, the Bobcats went to 2 NCAA tournaments and 2 NIT tournaments.
Olson began his college head coaching career as the head baseball and head basketball coach at Iowa Wesleyan. His high school coaching career started immediately after college at Hoffman-Kensington, MN where he is the winningest coach in school history. He also coached one year at Winfield-Mt. Union High School in Iowa, where he had the privilege of coaching Jess Settles, who went on to become a 3 time All Big Ten performer at Iowa.
Olson played both baseball and basketball at the University of Minnesota-Morris. His teams won two conference championships in basketball and competed in three post-season tournaments and one NCAA tournament in baseball. While at UMM, Olson received a degree in both Physical Education and Elementary Education. He received his Masters in Physical Education from Montana State.
His high school career at Barrett High School in Minnesota resulted in 20 letters won and playing in the State Basketball All Star Game. When his high school career ended, he was the 17th leading scorer in state history. Olson has won 33 championships in his playing and coaching career and has been inducted into four Halls of Fame. (Minnesota-Morris as a player, Montana State as a coach, Panhandle State as a coach, and Panhandle State as an alumni ambassador). /p>
Miles Community College President Dr. Stacy Klippenstein and the MCC community want to welcome Jerry to the Pioneer family. “I am excited to have Jerry join our team,” commented Dr. Klippenstein. “He has spent many years as a coach and athletic administrator and has a passion for student success, both on the playing surface and in the classroom. He is an exceptional addition to the MCC team and will help advance our vision of athletics and student-athlete success.”
