SW Minnesota Stars Basketball

Mobile: (605) 376-4651

PERSONAL:
Ryan has been married to Jenifer since 1994. They have three sons, Zachary (24), Collin (22), and Tyson (19). Ryan is currently a mechanical engineering team lead at Raven Industries. Ryan enjoys spending time with his family doing a variety of activities including bike rides, playing with our Vizsla Ruby, home improvements, technology, exercise, enjoying outdoors, and watching sports. He personally has a passion to engage with youth through game of basketball and enjoys developing relationships with other coaches.  He has been coaching basketball in some capacity for last twenty years from middle school through college level.

Coach of SW Minnesota Stars (2009-Present)
Youth Basketball Coach (2004 – Present)
Assistant Coach of Sioux Falls Chr. Girls Teams (2007-09)
Assistant Men’s Coach at University of Sioux Falls (2001-2004)
Future Stars Basketball Camp Coach at USF (summers of 2001 and 2002)
Co-Coach of Southwest Chr. Varsity Boys Summer Teams (2000-2001)
7th & 8th Grade Boys Coach at Sioux Falls Christian (2000-01)
Attended Many Coaching Clinics including several Don Meyer Camps

EXPERIENCE:
Justin Van Kooten coached the Sioux Falls Skyforce, D-League Affiliate of Miami Heat, serving as assistant coach after serving two years as director of basketball operations and volunteer in the previous seasons.

Justin has also served as head and assistant coach for the Southwest Minnesota Stars AAU basketball program.  Justin has also assisted with the Roosevelt High School basketball program in the summers of 2011 and 2012. He was an assistant varsity and head junior varsity coach at Baltic High School during the 2011-12 season. A four-year member of the basketball team at Dordt College, Van Kooten was also a part-time basketball specialist at Sanford POWER TIBBS Basketball Academy.

PERSONAL:
The Pella, Iowa native graduated from Dordt in May of 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.

PERSONAL:

Flowers’ background and experience comes from almost 20 years of playing basketball at the collegiate level and professionally, coupled with 5 years of directing clinics/camps for the Timberwolves/Lynx Basketball Academy, 1 year as an assistant coach at Concordia University, St. Paul, and 2 years as Varsity Boys Basketball Coach at Burnsville High School.

Flowers starred at Winona State University during his collegiate career (2004-2008) and led the Warriors to two NCAA Division II National Championships, one NCAA runner-up, four NCAA Tournament appearances, three North Central Regional crowns, four NSIC Conference Titles, and three NSIC Tournament Titles. During Flowers’ sophomore-senior seasons, the Warriors set a men’s NCAA Division II record winning 57 consecutive games. Flowers was named to numerous All-American squads, was named Co-North Central Region Player of the Year, and named Most Outstanding Player of the Elite Eight while leading his team to the 2008 National Championship. He concluded his career as the leader in steals at the NCAA Division II level with 414 and finished 2nd all-time in steals for any level of NCAA competition. Flowers is the only player in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) history to be named Defensive Player of the Year in four consecutive years.  

At the completion of his collegiate career, Flowers was invited to the prestigious Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. He was the only Division II player to be invited to the PIT, which showcases the best collegiate seniors in the country. His outstanding play in Portsmouth earned Flowers an invite to both the Minnesota Timberwolves and Detroit Pistons for a pre-draft workout. Flowers eventually landed a spot on the Pistons 2008 NBA Summer League Team. Flowers then embarked on an eleven-year professional playing career throughout Europe. He had stints in Sweden, France, Finland, Romania, Italy, Lithuania, and Poland. Flowers won two championships in Romania, was named Player of the Year in both Sweden and Romania and earned many other accolades during his career.

PERSONAL:
Derek grew up on his parent's dairy farm in Hewitt, MN where he would graduate from Bertha-Hewitt High School in 2005. Derek lettered in both football and basketball. He then attended Southwest MN State, where he graduated with a degree in History Education. While at SMSU, Derek spend time coaching football at the 5th/6th grade level. Since SMSU, Derek has lived in Tracy where he teaches social studies at the high school. He is the head coach of the GBB team which he has lead to four section championship game appearances in his nine years at the helm. Derek also is a varsity assistant coach in football. In his free time, Derek enjoys watching/attending sporting events, and hanging out with family/friends. 

Coaching Experience:

• TMB Girls Varsity Coach 2013-present
• TMB Girls JV Coach 2011-2013
• TMB Varsity Assistant Football Coach 2016-present
• Two sport high school athlete (basketball and football)

PERSONAL:

Brock is from Worthington, MN. He was a three-sport athlete for Worthington High School and a three-year starter and letter winner on the court. In his junior season, he gained All-Big South Honorable Mention honors. In his senior season he was tabbed to the All-Big South Team.

Brock has 3 years of college basketball experience, including 2 years at Minnesota West CTC where he started in 20 games his sophomore year before an ACL tear. He was also apart of the University of Wisconsin-Superior 2023-2024 team that placed 2nd in the UMAC.

Brock is now a Student Assistant for the men's basketball team at Southwest Minnesota State University while finishing his degree in Communications. He also is the Sports Director the the YMCA in Worthington during the summer and has coached 14u baseball the past 3 summers.

PERSONAL:

Damon is from Sioux Falls, SD where he is married to his wife Haley and works as a Buyer for Aerostar International.

Damon was a three-sport athlete where he earned All-State and All-District honors on the football field. He played for the 16U and 17U Stars team during his time in high school. Damon went on graduate from Iowa State University with degrees in Supply Chain Management and Business Management.

In his time at Iowa State University, he worked as a Student Assistant for the Iowa State Football team for three seasons.