With hard work and determination, Gary Holquist has molded the University of Minnesota Duluth men's basketball program into a regional power during his nine seasons at the helm.

Since assuming UMD's head coaching duties on June 11, 1998, Holquist has compiled an overall record of 130-105 while guiding the Bulldogs to a pair of NCAA Division II playoff berths (2001-02 and 2002-2003), one Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular season title (2001-02), and two NSIC tournament championships (2001-02 and 2002-03). Holquist spent 12 years as a Bulldog assistant coach before becoming the 15th head coach in the program's storied history. During his tenure as both as an assistant and as a head coach, UMD has made 10 national tournament appearances and has produced nine NCAA II All-Americans and 11 Conference Players of the Year.

A 1975 graduate of Marinette Catholic High School in Marinette, Wis., Holquist was an All-Fox Valley Conference basketball selection and an Associated Press All-State honorable mention pick as a senior. Holquist went on to attend Milton College (Wis.) where he was a four-year basketball letterman and a three-year starter at guard. As a junior and a senior with the Wildcats, he averaged in double figures in scoring.

Holquist graduated from Milton College in 1979 with cum laude honors and a B.A. degree in English and Communications. In 1986, Holquist came to Minnesota Duluth from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire where he was an assistant coach for six seasons. During the first four of those years (1980-84), he shared Blugold assistant coaching duties with the aforementioned Race.

Holquist, who was a member of a United States amateur team that toured Central America in the summer of 1979, received his Master of Science in Teaching degree from UW-Eau Claire. In addition to his role as head basketball coach, Holquist also serves as the director of UMD's Jamar Athletic Academic Support Center. The $55,000 complex contains a computer lab and a tutoring area for Bulldog athletes.

An active member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), Holquist ran a clinic sponsored by the NCAA's Youth Education through Sports (Y.E.S) Program in conjunction with the 2001 NCAA Final Four in Minneapolis, Minn. During Holquist's tenure as head coach at UMD, 95 percent of the players who have stayed in his program for four years received their degree.

The 49-year-old Holquist has one daughter, Samantha (17) and resides in Duluth.

Email Coach Holquist: qholquis@d.umn.edu

After a 10-year hiatus, Jeff Nicholas has returned to the University of Minnesota Duluth men’s basketball program, but this time it’s in a different capacity. Nicholas, who was a four-time letterwinner with the Bulldogs during the mid-1990s, took over as UMD’s new assistant coach on May 8, 2006.

Nicholas, 32, succeeded long-time assistant Butch Kuronen, who stepped down in March after 26 seasons at UMD.